The Miami Marlins began a critical series against the New York Mets with a 2-1 loss on Monday.
Yoenis Cespedes hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the tenth to give New York the win. The home run came after Miami's bullpen blew a lead two innings earlier.
This is an important series for the Marlins in terms of the Wild Card race. The Marlins entered the four-game series 1.5 games back of the second Wild Card spot and one game ahead of the Mets. New York and Miami are now tied in the standings.
Jose Fernandez had some trouble with his command, but battled for six shutout innings. The right-hander walked four and struck out six while allowing three hits. It took Fernandez 113 pitches to get through the effort and only 58 were strikes.
With the game tied at zero in the eighth inning, the Marlins doubled twice to score the team's only run. Xavier Scruggs brought home the go-ahead run as part of a two-hit day for the first baseman.
Ichiro Suzuki singled and doubled to give him 3,011 hits in his career. That total allowed Suzuki to pass Wade Boggs on the All-Time hit list. Suzuki now has the 26th most hits in big league history. The double by Suzuki started the aforementioned rally in the eighth inning.
The Marlins had other scoring opportunities, but were unable to convert them into runs. Miami went 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left ten men on base.
Sports
Tom Koehler will start next for Miami on Tuesday.
