NEW YORK (AP) – Dee Gordon sparked the decisive rally with a single on the 16th pitch of his gritty at-bat, ending the longest major league plate appearance in nearly two years, and the Miami Marlins edged the New York Mets 2-1 on Tuesday night to win a much-anticipated pitching matchup that mostly lived up to its billing.
Noah Syndergaard struck out 12 for the slumping Mets, one short of his career high, and left with the score tied at 1 after seven innings. Miami ace Jose Fernandez recovered from a shaky start and went five innings in a game pitting two of baseball’s most electric young arms.
Derek Dietrich had an RBI single in his first start of the season for the Marlins, and pinch-hitter Martin Prado delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth against Jerry Blevins. Gordon, a Mets nemesis who whiffed a career-high four times, stole second base and scored the tiebreaking run after leading off with a single on the 16th pitch from Jim Henderson (0-1).
Gordon fouled off 11 consecutive 2-2 pitches in the longest plate appearance by a big league hitter since Justin Turner drew a 16-pitch walk for the Los Angeles Dodgers from Cincinnati right-hander Johnny Cueto on May 26, 2014, according to STATS LLC.
David Phelps (2-0) fanned three in two hitless innings, and A.J. Ramos got three outs for his second save.