The fourth time was the charm for the Miami Marlins against Jacob deGrom.
The Marlins struggled for five innings against the New York Mets' ace and two-time defending National League Cy Young Award winner before breaking through in the sixth, pegging him for four runs before tacking on against the bullpen in a 5-3 win Monday at Citi Field. The win improves Miami to 15-15 on the year and keeps the Marlins in second place in the National League East heading into the final month of the season.
The game Monday, which splits up a Marlins home stand, was a makeup for their contest that was originally scheduled for Thursday but postponed in protest by both teams following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
And for five innings, it looked like the Marlins would have had more of the same struggles against deGrom, who according to the Elias Sports Bureau is the first pitcher to start four consecutive games against the same opponent since Freddie Fitzsimmons made four starts in 1929 for the New York Giants against the Cincinnati Reds. deGrom held Miami to three runs over 18 total innings in those games, all Mets wins.
He continued his run of domination during the first five innings on Monday, holding the Marlins scoreless and striking out eight while his offense built up a 2-0 lead.
But the Marlins finally struck in the sixth. It started with a 451-foot Garrett Cooper home run to left-center field. Rookie first baseman Lewin Diaz tied the game three batters later with an RBI double that scored Matt Joyce, who reached on a fielding error. Miguel Rojas hit an RBI single and Jorge Alfaro hit an RBI double in consecutive at-bats to give Miami the lead and an insurance run.
Brian Anderson added a solo home run in the eighth against Mets reliever Brad Brach.
The rally was enough to support rookie starter Trevor Rogers and give him his first career MLB win in his second career MLB start. Rogers held the Mets to two runs over five innings, giving up five hits and two walks while striking out five.
Alex Vesia gave up a solo home run to Robinson Cano in the sixth to cut Miami's lead in half, but Richard Bleier, Yimi Garcia and Brandon Kintzler shut down the Mets (15-20) for the final three innings. Kintzler earned his seventh save in as many opportunities.
