MIAMI — The Miami Marlins needed a strong start from Pablo Lopez on Saturday. Their bullpen was in shambles after a 12-inning loss the night before in which 10 Miami pitchers appeared on the mound.
Lopez did his job, throwing seven shutout innings against the New York Mets. The offense finally broke through in the seventh as well, with a key pinch-hit decision by manager Don Mattingly paying off.
And then Garrett Cooper hit a two-out, full-count, walk-off, two-run home run to cap the Marlins’ 2-1 win at loanDepot park. The Marlins (21-24) and Mets (21-18) finish their three-game on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1:10 p.m.
Cooper’s home run — his third in as many games — was hit 109.6 mph off the bat and went a projected 428 feet to left-center field.
It backed up arguably Lopez’s best start of the season. Lopez held the Mets to four hits and a walk while striking out eight batters and retired 15 of the final 16 he faced.
After needing 21 pitches to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and 52 total pitches to get through the first three innings, Lopez needed just 38 pitches to get through his final four innings.
Outfielder Corey Dickerson delivered the Marlins’ initial go-ahead run with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh that was just deep enough to left field to score Brian Anderson from third base. Anderson reached on a one-out single, his second hit of the game, and made it to third base on a Cooper single one at-bat later.
But the Mets answered right back in the eighth. Anthony Bass got two outs but walked two before Richard Bleier came to the mound for a lefty-lefty matchup with Dominic Smith. Smith worked the count full, including taking a 90.8 mph in the strike zone on a 2-2 count that was called a ball, before hitting an RBI single into right to tie the game.
But while Lopez kept the Mets at bay, the Marlins offense fell stagnant early. Joey Lucchesi, the Mets’ starting pitcher who entered the game with a 9.19 ERA, held the Marlins to one hit with eight strikeouts over four innings.
