NEW YORK — Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier hit back-to-back homers with two outs in the ninth inning, and the New York Mets stunned the Miami Marlins 4-3 on Thursday in the first game of a doubleheader.
Kyle Barraclough entered with one out in the ninth and retired pinch-hitter Dominic Smith before Conforto lined a 1-0 changeup into the second deck in right to tie the game. Frazier followed by hitting a 1-1 pitch into the seats in left-center field, prompting his teammates to rush from the dugout and mob the veteran third baseman as he crossed home.
It was Frazier’s first walk-off homer since June 17, 2015, for the Cincinnati Reds against the White Sox.
Barraclough (0-6) blew a save for the seventh time in 17 opportunities.
Jerry Blevins (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.
Rookie starter Sandy Alcantara befuddled the Mets offense, permitting just two hits, with his only real blemish coming off the bat of the opposing pitcher. Steven Matz hit his first career homer, a two-run shot into the left-field seats in the second inning to tie the game at 2. It was the first homer by a Mets pitcher since Seth Lugo hit one on July 15, 2017.
Peter O’Brien and Isaac Galloway went deep in the top of the second against Matz. Galloway’s third long ball of the year traveled an estimated 408 feet into the second deck in left.
Playing in front of a sparse crowd with several hundred fans scattered around Citi Field, both clubs then traded zeroes until the seventh.
Matz retired 13 of 14 before allowing a double to Brian Anderson to start the inning and was lifted after getting Lewis Brinson to fly out. Peter O’Brien lined Drew Smith’s first pitch into the right-field corner for a run-scoring single.
Adam Conley pitched a scoreless eighth, stranding a runner left by Alcantara, and retired Jay Bruce to start the ninth before being lifted for Barraclough.
Matz allowed three runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out four.
Alcantara also faced the Mets on June 29 in Miami, earning his first big league win behind five innings of one-run ball.
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