The Miami Marlins (43-40) defeated the New York Mets (45-37) by the final score of 5-2 tonight at Citi Field. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_07_05_miamlb_nynmlb_1#game=2016_07_05_miamlb_nynmlb_1,game_state=Wrapup,game_tab=box

Game Notes:

• Steven Matz was handed the loss tonight despite pitching a good game. He went 7 innings while allowing 2 runs on 6 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 6.
• Erik Goeddel served up a 3-run HR to Giancarlo Stanton in his lone inning of relief.
• Yoenis Cespedes was 2-3 with a solo HR.
• Alejandro De Aza had a pinch-hit solo HR.
• Jose Reyes went 0-4 in his 2016 Mets debut. He received a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat tonight (pictured).

After a historic comeback yesterday afternoon, the Mets bats fell silent tonight against a struggling Marlins starter in Wei-Yin Chen. The Mets couldn’t seem to get anything going offensively as they had only four hits on the night, and two of them were solo home runs. The Mets have traditionally struggled against left-handed pitchers this season, as they have scored the second fewest runs in the Majors against lefties, and manufacturing runs against lefties will be an area that the team will have to improve on as the season goes on. The team actually has a quick turnaround against another left-hander tomorrow afternoon, so let’s hope the offense can kick it into high-gear. 

The Mets were burned by one player tonight in Giancarlo Stanton as he accounted for two home runs and five RBI’s. Steven Matz made one mistake the whole night, and it came at the expense of a 84 mph changeup that Stanton deposited into left-center field in the top of the seventh inning. That two-run home run by Stanton gave the Marlins a 2-1 lead. Stanton also ripped a three-run home run towards left-center field on a Erik Goeddel fastball in the top of the eighth inning. While Stanton has been a dynamic force in Miami’s lineup over the past several seasons, he is having the worst statistical season of his career, and came into tonight hitting .111 over his past seven games. It was a tough break, but the Mets went after Stanton tonight and they paid for it dearly. 

• The Mets now improve to 5-1 on their midseason defining homestand that continues tomorrow afternoon with a rubber game against the Marlins.First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 pm et and can be seen on SNY and MLB Network.

• Jacob deGrom (4-4, 2.62 ERA) will look to take the rubber match against Marlins southpaw Justin Nicolino (2-4, 5.34 ERA).