National League Game Summary - Miami at New York
Flushing, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Dan Haren outshined Matt Harvey and Justin Bour came up with the big blow in the Miami Marlins' 4-3 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Harvey (5-3) struck out a season-best 11 over eight innings but was reached for four runs, three of which came on Bour's homer in the fourth that helped extend the Mets ace's winless streak to five starts.
Haren (5-2) gave up solo homers to Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson, but yielded just two other hits and a walk over seven impressive innings to put an end to Miami's three-game skid.
"Another tremendous outing by Dan," Marlins manager Dan Jennings said. "He makes pitch after pitch, he knows how to expand, he works vertical. It's really fun to watch him out there do what he does."
Martin Prado added an RBI single for the Marlins that ended up looming large, as the Mets moved within a run on Daniel Murphy's double in the ninth before A.J. Ramos recorded the final two outs.
Harvey was overwhelming the first time through the Marlins' order, racking up six strikeouts and needing just 34 pitches to get through three perfect innings. His effectiveness waned, however, when forced into the stretch after Dee Gordon dropped down a perfectly placed bunt single to begin the fourth.
Prado then drew a five-pitch walk and two batters later, Bour hammered Harvey's initial offering into the right-field seats for a sudden 3-0 Miami lead.
"I leave a pitch over the middle trying to throw a slider back door," Harvey said of the home run. "Kind of spun over the middle and cost us -- cost me -- the game."
Haren, meanwhile, had yielded only one hit -- a Michael Cuddyer double in the second inning -- prior to Duda leading off the bottom of the fourth with a towering drive into the second deck in right. The homer was the first baseman's sixth in his last five games at Citi Field.
Miami was able to small-ball its away to another run off Harvey in the fifth, which Adeiny Hechavarria opened with a single. Haren pushed him to second on a bunt before Prado delivered a two-out single to increase the margin to 4-1.
Granderson pulled the Mets closer with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the sixth, but Haren fanned the dangerous Duda with a man on and got Murphy to bounce into a double play to keep it a two-run game.
"You never envision getting a three-run lead to Harvey, so when I got it I was pretty determined to make it last," Haren said. "Harvey's unbelievable. He's got a dead arm, he's throwing 98 (mph). When I have a dead arm I'm throwing like 80."
New York's bats remained silent over the next two innings before putting forth a late charge in the ninth. Ruben Tejada reached on a leadoff single and raced around on Murphy's bloop double to center to trim the lead to 4-3.
Ramos struck out Cuddyer, however, and induced a game-ending groundout by Wilmer Flores to earn his third save.