The Mets‘ offense couldn’t get anything going and New York lost to the Miami Marlins, 2-1, on Friday night.
Here are the takeaways…
— It looked like the Mets might get to feast against struggling Marlins starter Eury Perez after Juan Soto blasted a tank of a solo shot in the first inning that gave New York a 1-0 lead. The home run, which traveled 449 feet, landed in the second deck and was Soto’s longest career homer.
— Also in the first, Carson Benge led off the game with a deep fly ball to center field that Jakob Marsee made a splendid running catch at the wall on. While the play was impressive, Mets hitters appeared to be on Perez early.
— But after Soto’s home run, Perez retired the next eight hitters in a row before Soto stayed hot with a single. Soto has had a terrific road trip with eight hits, four home runs, five RBI, six runs scored and a stolen base. He’s also hit safely in nine of the last 11 games and has had multiple hits in seven of those games.
— Unfortunately for the Mets, Soto was the only player to show up in Miami as the rest of the offense went hitless against Perez who settled in after the dicey first and looked incredible in his 6.1 innings of work.
— Perez left with a lead after the Marlins scored once in the second and once in the fourth. The first run was charged to Tobias Myers who got the start and lasted 1.1 innings, leaving the game after giving up a double to Esteury Ruiz.
— Sean Manaea was the bulk reliever and the first one out of the bullpen and was unable to strand the runner in scoring position, giving up the tying run on a groundout after Ruiz stole third base. The left-hander looked better than he has in recent outings in his 3.2 innings of work and struck out three while reaching 94 mph on his fastball which the Mets have not seen this year.
Still, he allowed the go-ahead run in the fourth after Ruiz reached third base on a two-out triple down the right field line that Benge just barely missed before Owen Caisse singled Ruiz home.
— The only other hit New York had aside from Soto was A.J. Ewing who singled with two outs in the eighth inning. Trying to make something happen, the speedster immediately took off for second base, but he was gunned down on a perfect throw by catcher Joe Mack to end the inning.
— Perhaps the biggest star for the Mets was Jonah Tong who, in his season debut, came in after Manaea and looked dominant, facing the minimum over three innings and striking out two on just 28 pitches.
— Benge made a bid to tie the game in the sixth with another shot to center, but there was Marsee once again making a tremendous catch high up the wall for the out. Benge finished 0-for-3 with a walk and had 801 feet worth of flyouts.
Game MVP: Jonah Tong
The right-hander looked unhittable in his season debut which could be great news for the Mets and their patchwork starting rotation.
Highlights
A SOTO SHOT!
Juan Soto’s 10th homer of the year! pic.twitter.com/0Etdg0VfwS
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 22, 2026
Nick Morabito makes the diving catch to keep the Marlins off the board in the 5th pic.twitter.com/kM06bou4b9
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 23, 2026
What’s next
The Mets continue their three-game series with the Marlins on Saturday with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. on SNY.
RHP Freddy Peralta (3-3, 3.31 ERA) goes for New York and will be opposed by RHP Max Meyer (4-0, 2.85 ERA).