NEW YORK -- Curtis Granderson needed only three innings of playing time to do all sorts of damage.Granderson came off the bench and homered twice, Jose Reyes had four hits and the surging New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 7-4 on Tuesday night.Asdrubal Cabrera added to his recent tear at the plate, hitting a two-run homer after missing one start with a sore knee. Rookie right-hander Seth Lugo (2-2) gave up two runs in the first inning but recovered nicely as the Mets won for the eighth time in 10 games.Were playing good baseball. We just need to play consistently right through September, Reyes said.By taking the first two games of the four-game series, the defending NL champions moved ahead of slumping Miami for second place in the NL East. New York (68-64) remained 2 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the leagues second wild card.I think it helps having a little bit of pressure, Lugo said. Its a little easier when theres something on the line. Gives you focus.Looking to spark a scuffling offense, Marlins manager Don Mattingly shuffled his 2-3-4 hitters. It worked right off the bat, with Christian Yelich hitting a two-run homer in his first career plate appearance batting cleanup.It was Miamis first home run in eight games, but that was all for the Marlins until J.T. Realmuto hit a solo homer off Jim Henderson in the ninth. Jeff Francoeur tripled with two outs and scored on Dee Gordons single before Jeurys Familia struck out Marcell Ozuna for his major league-leading 43rd save in 46 chances.Familia matched his 2015 total and again tied the franchise record for one season, first set by Armando Benitez in 2001. Seven of Familias saves this year have come against Miami -- most for any major league reliever versus one team.New York has won nine of the past 12 meetings this season.Miami has dropped four straight and six of eight overall.We cant try to fix it overnight. Its not going to work that way. Weve just got to play good ball, starter Tom Koehler said.Granderson, batting for Lugo, connected against Koehler (9-10) for his second career pinch-hit homer leading off the sixth, extending the Mets lead to 4-2 with the clubs ninth pinch-hit homer this season.Alejandro De Aza added an RBI single later in the inning off Dustin McGowan.Granderson, who stayed in to play right field, launched a two-run shot in the seventh.Its tough to pinch-hit in any situation, he said. Not an easy task by any means.Reyes singled leading off the first and Cabrera went deep on the next pitch. It was the 17th home run this season and fourth in 11 at-bats for the reigning NL player of the week. He is batting .447 with four doubles and 11 RBI in 11 games since coming off the disabled list Aug. 19.Reyes and Cabrera got on base seven times in 10 combined plate appearances from the top two spots in the lineup.Slumping slugger Jay Bruce, who started over Granderson, doubled and scored on a two-out single by Wilmer Flores that gave the Mets a 3-2 lead.Before the game, manager Terry Collins said he thinks De Aza is the teams best option in center field right now. Bruce and Granderson, both with All-Star track records, have been sharing time in right as each tries to get going at the plate.Ive commissioned the commissioners office to give us a rover. They havent OKd that yet, Collins joked. So were going to do the best we can. But I think both of them are everyday players. We just dont have everyday spots.Lugo went six innings and retired the final eight batters he faced in his third major league start. He has won the past two.Struggling reliever Hansel Robles followed Lugo with two scoreless innings.LIKE A HAWKScott Hairston (2011) and Hawk Taylor (1964) were the only other Mets players to homer twice in a game they didnt start.TRAINERS ROOMMarlins: LHP Adam Conley (finger tendinitis) began a throwing program in Florida. It could take him about three weeks to return, Mattingly said.Mets: Rookie LHP Steven Matz (shoulder) is not ready to come off the disabled list and was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday night. Jacob deGrom will be moved up a day to start for Matz in the finale of the four-game series, Collins said. ... 2B Neil Walker sat out his third straight game with a stiff back.VEGAS, BABYThe Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League will remain the Mets Triple-A affiliate for at least two more years. The teams announced an extension of their player development contract through the 2018 season. Well aware of how inconvenient its been at times to have players travel across the country on red-eye flights when they get promoted to the big leagues, Collins sounded unenthused. The only thing thats good about it is theres enough flights out of Vegas late at night, he said. That situation is what it is, and I dont have anything else to say except we hope that those flights keep going.UP NEXTMarlins RHP David Phelps (7-6, 2.52 ERA) starts Wednesday night against 43-year-old RHP Bartolo Colon (12-7, 3.44 ERA).Wholesale Fake Jerseys . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Fake Basketball Jerseys . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. http://www.fakejersey.com/fake-adidas-jerseys/ . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Cheap Fake Jerseys . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. Fake Nike Jerseys . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars.NEW YORK -- Jewell Loyd scored 25 points and Breanna Stewart added 23 to help the Seattle Storm beat the New York Liberty 102-78 on Wednesday night.Crystal Langhorne had 21 points for Seattle (13-17). The Storm moved into a tie for seventh place in the playoff chase. Seattle has four games left in the regular season.The Liberty (20-10) secured the third seed in the WNBA playoffs with Chicagos loss to Washington. New York has a first-round bye and will play the lowest remaining seed in the second round.Tina Charles led the Liberty with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.MYSTICS 118, SKY 81.WASHINGTON -- Tayler Hill scored 21 points, Leilani Mitchell added 20 points and the duo combined to make nine of Washingtons season-high 16 3-pointers in the Mystics victory over Chicago.ddddddddddddWashington set a franchise scoring record, topping a 109-106 three-overtime victory over Connecticut this season. The Mystics shot 60.8 percent from the field, including 16 of 28 from 3-point range.Emma Meesseman added 17 points and Stefanie Dolson had 16 points for Washington (12-17).Courtney Vandersloot had 17 points and eight assists, and Cappie Pondexter added 16 points for Chicago (15-14). Elena Delle Donne, the top scorer in the WNBA at 22.1 points per game, played just eight minutes and sat out the entire second half because of a thumb injury. ' ' '
