Robert Jr.'s Two-RBI Single Breaks Tie, Mets Hold Off Marlins
Luis Robert Jr. singled to left in the eighth inning to score two runs, swinging New York's win probability from 62% to 95% and putting the game away for good. The Mets beat Miami 4-2 in a back-and-forth contest that wasn't decided until the final two innings.
For six innings, this looked like a pitcher's duel with a flair for the dramatic. Eury Perez was sharp for Miami — 6.0 innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 6 strikeouts — and Nolan McLean matched him almost pitch for pitch, going 6.1 innings with 6 hits, 2 earned runs, and 6 strikeouts of his own. The Marlins drew first blood in the fourth when Kyle Stowers launched a 368-foot home run to right, putting Miami up 1-0. It looked like Perez might make that lead stand.
New York answered in the sixth with a two-run inning that had a little bit of everything. Francisco Lindor singled to right to score Alvarez and tie it at 1-1, then Lindor himself scored on a fielding error by third baseman Pauley — Robert Jr. reaching safely, Bichette moving to second — to give the Mets a 2-1 edge. Miami refused to fold. Jakob Marsee crushed a 385-foot shot to right center in the seventh to knot it back up at 2-2, and suddenly this game had a genuine pulse. Liam Hicks went 2-for-3 for the Marlins, and the lineup looked capable of doing more damage.
It didn't happen. The story of the night was the eighth inning, and specifically one swing of the bat. With Bichette and Benge both on base, Robert Jr. singled to left — a clean, decisive hit that scored both runners and pushed New York to a 4-2 lead. The win probability swung from 62% to 95% on that single play, a 33-point shift that effectively ended the contest. Devin Williams followed with a dominant relief inning — 1.0 IP, no hits, no earned runs, 2 strikeouts — and Brooks Raley closed it out with 1.2 innings of scoreless work. The Marlins had the arms and, for stretches, the offense to compete here. But Miami's inability to generate anything after Marsee's homer in the seventh is what this loss will come down to. Robert Jr.'s two RBIs on one swing did the damage that mattered most.