NEW YORK _ T.J. Rivera reached second base, clapped his hands hard, and savored what he had just done. The Mets appeared on the brink of certain defeat, staring a six-run deficit to the Marlins, before slowly mounting a comeback.
Fate brought Rivera to the plate in the seventh inning, and he didn't miss his chance, ripping a two-run double to tie the game and eventually send the Mets to an 8-7 victory.
Wilmer Flores drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the winning run later in the seventh, but it was Rivera who powered the Mets.
Batting in the second spot because of a hot streak that raised his average to .278 at the start of play, Rivera hammered the first pitch he saw off Tom Koehler for his first homer of the year.
In the seventh, Rivera again pounced on the first offering to round out the stirring comeback. For the eighth straight game, the Mets' offense scored at least five runs. This time, it was enough to bail out a lackluster performance by Rafael Montero in his first outing in place of the injured Noah Syndergaard.
After the Marlins were finished hitting in the fourth, the Mets appeared destined for another night of paying for mediocre pitching.
The Mets hitched their hopes to the power of their arms, with all their aspirations flowing from a rotation that they envisioned would smother the rest of the National League. This had always been the plan. Injuries and ineffectiveness changed everything.
Which is why Montero took the mound, given another opportunity to prove that he's worthy of staying in the major leagues at a time when his team needed him. But the only thing he accomplished was showing that perhaps somebody else deserves the next chance.
"It's easy to say hey, he's got to throw strikes," Collins said before the game. "He's got to throw quality strikes. You just can't throw the ball down the middle and expect to have any success. You've got to move the ball around the strike zone."
In 32/3 innings, Montero showed all of the maddening traits that have kept him from realizing his potential. His approach was timid, shying away from the Marlins' best hitters. He looked mostly afraid to throw quality strikes.
When Giancarlo Stanton ripped an RBI double in the fourth, Collins made a slow walk from the dugout that seemed inevitable. Montero then watched as reliever Josh Smoker allowed Justin Bour's two-run double.
The damage belonged to Montero, who allowed five runs and seven hits, with his ERA swelling to 10.45. Smoker surrendered two more runs of his own and the Mets were suddenly staring at a six-run deficit.
The comeback began slowly at first, with Curtis Granderson answering with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 7-3. That swing set the stage for the seventh inning, when the Marlins summoned Brad Ziegler and the Mets fortunes turned.
Flores started it all with a single, Jose Reyes lashed a double and Rene Rivera knocked in a run.
Up came Asdrubal Cabrera, who had been benched with a sore leg. It didn't show when he singled to center to score another. Michal Conforto singled up the middle to collect another hit, bringing up T.J. Rivera.
He needed just one pitch to cap the comeback, ripping a liner to left that Marcell Ozuna could not cut off. With that, the game was tied.
Three batters later, with the bases loaded, Flores worked a walk off Kyle Barraclough to force in Conforto as the winning run.
