Major League Baseball
NY Mets 12, Miami 1
When: 7:10 PM ET, Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Where: Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - D.J. Reyburn, 1B - Bill Welke, 2B - John Hirschbeck, 3B - Victor Carapazza
Attendance: 21759

MIAMI -- Monday, with all the emotion of the death of star pitcher Jose Fernandez still fresh on everyone's mind, belonged to the Miami Marlins.

Tuesday, the New York Mets took over, banging out 19 hits in a 12-1 win over Miami at Marlins Park.

Jay Bruce and Yoenis Cespedes each hit their 31st homer of the season, and Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda each had three RBIs to pace the Mets attack.

Duda had his first multi-RBI game since May 4. He missed nearly four months due to back surgery, returning on Sept. 18.

"It's going OK -- it could be a lot better," Duda said of his comeback. "The more I play, the more comfortable I get."

Bruce, who made his Mets debut on Aug. 2 after being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds, is also trying to get comfortable.

He has struggled through much of his time with the Mets, hitting just .190 before Tuesday's 2-for-5 performance.

"It's been very encouraging," Mets manager Terry Collins said of Bruce's recent work, including six hits in his past 14 at-bats. "He's been working on some things, and it looks like it's paying off. If he's back, we're going to be a different lineup."

Bruce hit a two-run homer in the second, and Cespedes matched him in the third as the Mets (84-74) maintained a half-game lead over the San Francisco Giants and a 1 1/2-game edge on the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL wild-card race. At most, two of those three teams will make the playoffs.

New York broke the game open with a five-run eighth inning, getting a two-run single by Granderson and a three-run double by Duda. Granderson added an RBI double in a three-run ninth.

The 19 hits were the most allowed by Miami this season. In the past two Mets wins, New York has outscored its competition by a combined score of 29-1.

Miami (78-79), playing its second game since Fernandez's tragic death in a boating accident on Sunday, was much more subdued than it was in Monday's highly emotional 7-3 win over New York.

Noah Syndergaard (14-9) earned the win, striking out eight and walking none while allowing just five hits and one run in six innings. He also hit two singles and is batting .190 this season.

Miami's Tom Koehler (9-13), making perhaps his last start of his season, allowed six hits, four walks and four runs in 3 2/3 innings. He failed in his ninth straight attempt at getting to 10 wins.

Koehler, though, indicated that it was hard to focus given the circumstances.

"It was different," Koehler said of the atmosphere surrounding the Marlins on Tuesday as compared to Monday. "It's hard to explain.

"I think everybody is doing the best they can. This (Fernandez's death) is something we are not trained to handle. I have a lot of fond memories of Jose. That may have been the first home start that he wasn't here."

Dee Gordon scored a first-inning run for the second straight day. But while he homered on Monday, this time he played small ball, getting a bunt hit, stealing second and scoring on a Marcell Ozuna single.

New York took a 2-1 lead in the second. After Granderson drew a four-pitch leadoff walk, Bruce pulled the next pitch 396 feet to the upper deck in right field.

There was a similar pattern in the third. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a leadoff single, and the next batter, Cespedes, pulled a 432-foot blast to left.

With Syndergaard in top form, including a fastball that consistently hit 99 mph, that was all the Mets really needed.

"This cat's got great stuff," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Syndergaard.

"I'm proud of our guys. They are dealing with stuff, but they are continuing to play."

NOTES: Marlins 3B Martin Prado reportedly agreed to a three-year, $30 million extension. ... Marlins LF Marcell Ozuna said Jose Fernandez had invited him to go out on his boat after Saturday night's game. Ozuna declined the invitation because his wife and kids were waiting to see him. A couple of hours later, Fernandez and two friends died in Sunday's early-morning boat crash. ... Memorial services for Fernandez include a public viewing on Wednesday and a mass on Thursday. ... Mets LHP Steven Matz (bone spurs) will have surgery and is out for the season. He should be ready to pitch again in three months and joins three other Mets starting pitchers who are already out for the season: Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler. ... This three-game series ends on Wednesday in a battle of right-handers: Seth Lugo of the Mets and Jose Urena of the Marlins. Lugo is 4-1 with a 2.31 ERA in his past six starts.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Mets   Miami
Noah Syndergaard Player Tom Koehler
Win W/L Loss
6.0 IP 3.2
8 Strikeouts 3
5 Hits 6
1.50 ERA 9.82
Hitting
NY Mets   Miami
Jose Reyes Player Justin Bour
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
4 TB 2
.500 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
NY Mets 19 2 30 .432 28 5 12 6 0 1
Miami 6 0 6 .188 11 11 1 1 1 0