The New York Mets beat the Marlins 8-3 in a regular-season game at Miami on Tuesday night. It was the third time the two sides met in as many days, and the visitors took control early and held on. By then the pattern was clear enough - the Mets were not going to let this one slip.
The visitors had already shown they could handle the Marlins in yesterday's 7-5 victory, and before that another 9-4 win on Monday. Three games in a row against the same side tends to reveal who wants it more, and the Mets made their intentions plain from the first innings. They worked the channels and kept the pressure on.
The Marlins had been on a decent run against the Cubs earlier in the week, winning 10-3 on Saturday before losing two tight games. But facing New York has been different story altogether. They lost the first two meetings 5-7 and 4-9, and this one followed the same script. The old head settled them down in the previous series, but tonight there was nothing to steady things.
Recent form tells the story without needing a play-by-play. The Mets have won four of their last five, including two against the Giants and three straight over the Marlins. The hosts have lost four of their last five, with only the Cubs win standing out. It is not much of a gap between the sides right now.
The result extends New York's winning streak and gives them something to build on. Miami will need to find a way to stop the bleeding before the season closes. Eight runs in one night is not easy to recover from, and neither is losing three in a row to the same opponent.