NEW YORK _ When Giancarlo Stanton went down and the Marlins struggled to score, Christian Yelich moved to the cleanup spot.
When Marcell Ozuna got hurt and the Marlins needed a center fielder, Yelich slid over from his normal spot in left.
When the team around him started to crumble _ stumbling through a terrible August capped by a five-game losing streak, rapidly losing ground in the National League wild-card race in the process _ Yelich did it all to stop it all. He went 3-for-4, stole two bases, drove in four runs, scored another two and robbed the New York Mets of a pair Thursday in what was perhaps the best all-around individual effort the Marlins have seen this season.
Miami parlayed that with another strong effort from Jose Urena into a 6-4 win over the Mets at Citi Field, avoiding a sweep and beginning the season's most important month with an upbeat mood in the clubhouse after the game.
Yelich helped set the tone in the second inning, before anybody scored and before anybody knew he'd take over with his bat. The Mets loaded the bases with two outs against Urena, and Mets starter Jacob deGrom sent a sinking liner toward Yelich in center. Yelich rushed in, dove forward and snagged it. From his belly, he raised his glove to show his prize.
Unsatisfied with a scoreless tie, Yelich took the game into his own offensive hands the next five innings. In the third, a two-out single to plate Ichiro Suzuki. In the fifth, a two-out single, steal of second and run on Jeff Francoeur's double. In the seventh, a three-run home run.
The long ball was Yelich's third in as many games since moving to the No. 4 hole in the lineup. All three came on different pitches _ changeup, fastball, slider _ but all three went to left field, the opposite field for the lefty-hitting Yelich.
Yelich's night was not perfect. He invited chaos in the sixth when he dropped a fly ball, one lofted to left-center by Michael Conforto that he appeared to take his eyes off of too early. A double play _ turned smoothly by Adeiny Hechavarria and Dee Gordon _ rendered the mishap harmless.
An inning later, on a similarly routine play, Yelich made the catch. He flashed a smile when mock cheers arose from the New York crowd.
Urena pitched as efficiently as he has all season. He got through six innings on 90 pitches (51 strikes), allowing one run on a Jay Bruce solo shot in the sixth.
That continued a strong half-month stretch for the 24-year-old right-hander. Since a first-inning grand slam in Cincinnati on Aug. 16 _ which at the time looked like the latest sign he wasn't a viable candidate to fill out the major league rotation for any significant stretch _ Urena has allowed four runs in 23 innings, a 1.57 ERA.
Kyle Barraclough escaped a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the eighth. Conforto tapped into a double play, and a pinch-hitting Yoenis Cespedes struck out swinging.
