Boosted by epic rally, surging Marlins take aim at Mets

The Miami Marlins will look to improve their position in the playoff picture on Thursday when they visit the New York Mets in the opener of a four-game series.

Eury Perez (5-8, 3.56 ERA) is slated to start for Miami against fellow right-hander Nolan McLean (7-7, 3.32) of New York.

The Marlins climbed back over .500 on Wednesday when they completed a three-game series sweep of the visiting Philadelphia Phillies by overcoming a six-run deficit in an 8-6 victory.

The host Mets split a home doubleheader with the Atlanta Braves by winning the opener 3-2 before falling 1-0 in the nightcap.

Griffin Conine hit the tie-breaking two-run homer in the eighth inning on Wednesday for the Marlins, who rebounded from losing 12 in a row with a sweep of the Phillies.

Miami scored three runs in the ninth inning Monday to earn a walk-off 8-7 win before Sandy Alcantara and a pair of relievers made Kyle Stowers' first-inning homer stand in a 1-0 victory Tuesday. On Wednesday, Miami trailed 6-0 against All-Star left-hander Jesus Luzardo through 4 1/2 innings before storming back.

The sweep pulled the Marlins within two games of the Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for the final two wild-card spots in the National League.

"I hope we can stop talking about what was recently and kind of just get our sights moving forward," Miami manager Clayton McCullough said. "We believed the whole time we're a much better group than how those couple of weeks had gone. But we need to play well to do that."

Several miserable months have left little doubt the Mets will sell ahead of the deadline. New York, which hasn't finished last in the NL East since 2003, is in fifth place in the division and nine games behind the Marlins and Washington Nationals.

But the presence of the rookie McLean on the mound Thursday will provide the Mets another glimpse at a future that could include a pair of homegrown pitchers atop the rotation.

Christian Scott, who is in his second big league season, suffered the hard-luck loss against the Braves and All-Star pitcher Chris Sale on Wednesday. Scott allowed the lone run over a season-high six innings.

"Went toe-to-toe with one of the best in the league today," interim Mets manager Andy Green said.

Scott and McLean are a combined 10-10 with a 3.19 ERA. The rest of the Mets' rotation is 13-33 with a 5.10 ERA.

Both Perez and McLean suffered defeats in their most recent starts last Saturday. Perez allowed three runs over seven innings as the Marlins dropped a 7-2 home decision to the San Diego Padres, while McLean gave up four runs (two earned) over six innings in the Mets' 4-3 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

Perez is 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA in four career starts against the Mets.

McLean won his lone start against the Marlins on May 31, when he allowed one run over five innings in New York's 10-1 home victory.

--Field Level Media