MIAMI — Jeff McNeil’s big performance was a welcome sign for the Mets on Friday, raising hopes that for the second straight year, a post-All-Star break upturn awaits the veteran utility man.
Sean Manaea’s pitching performance was less than promising.
The Mets have been struggling to get above .500 and have been so good offensively over the past month that such missteps have been largely avoided or reduced to little more than a footnote.
But on this night, they couldn’t get a run back in a 6-4 loss to the Marlins at LawnDepot Park.
McNeil hit two home runs, but before that he made a jumping catch in right field to at least prevent a long hit and maybe stop one for the Marlins.
It was a breakout performance for McNeil, who had a dismal .590 OPS in the first half of the season, but the celebration faded.
The Mets (49-47) suffered their second straight loss after leaving runners on base in the seventh and eighth innings.
Manaea had an uncharacteristically tough game for the Mets, allowing five earned runs on eight hits and one walk in five innings.
The left-hander has pitched at least six innings in each of his three starts so far, allowing five runs, his most since June 8.
The Marlins scored two runs in the second inning against Manaea on an infield hit and a grounder to first base.
Otto Lopez started the counterattack with a double, then Jesus Sanchez hit a slow grounder that Mark Vientos couldn’t hit.
Xavier Edwards then singled to right field for one run and advanced to second base on a throwing error by McNeil.
Emmanuel Rivera then hit a sacrifice fly to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the first inning, McNeil sprinted to the right-field fence and jumped to catch a ball hit by Brian De La Cruz that would have otherwise gone all the way to the top of the fence.
Jake Berger hit an RBI double in the third inning to extend the lead to 3-0.
Jazz Chisholm singled as the leadoff batter of the inning and stole second base before Berger scored.
Josh Bell then hit an RBI single to give the Marlins their fourth run.
The Mets finally woke up in the fifth inning when they knocked out starting pitcher Edward Cabrera.
McNeil was the leadoff batter of the inning and hit a home run just over the center field fence, after which Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo were walked in succession, leaving one out.
Cabrera’s mishandling at second allowed Lindor to advance to third, and then J.D. Martinez’s sacrifice fly put the Mets within 4-2.
But Burger’s backflip paid off when the first baseman hit a leadoff home run against Manaea in the bottom of the inning.
McNeil was at it again in the sixth inning, hitting a two-run homer off Andrew Nardi to cut the Marlins’ lead to 5-4.
Jose Iglesias hit a double off Anthony Bender, then Nardi reached base and McNeil hit a home run over the right field fence for McNeil’s second career multi-home run game.
McNeill’s third hit, an infield single, sparked a comeback in the eighth inning.
The Mets advanced runners to second and third with one out, but with the infield drawn, Iglesias was called out at home plate on Harrison Bader’s grounder to shortstop.
Tanner Scott then came on to eject Lindor.
Dedniel Nunez gave up one run in the eighth on an RBI single by Nick Fortes.
