Vargas leads Mets to shutout of Marlins
Jason Vargas finally earned his first win as a member of the New York Mets on Monday night, when he twirled five solid innings and combined with five relievers on a five-hit shutout of the visiting Miami Marlins, 2-0, at Citi Field.
The Mets have won four straight. The Marlins have lost three in a row and four of five.
Vargas (1-3), who went 0-2 with a 12.19 ERA in two starts with the Mets in 2007 and entered Monday 0-3 with a 13.86 ERA in three starts this season, allowed two hits and one walk while striking out seven. He retired the first nine batters before Martin Prado singled leading off the fourth.
Vargas, who signed a two-year deal with the Mets in February, lowered his season ERA to 9.87 and his overall Mets ERA to 10.73.
The Marlins mounted their biggest threat in the sixth, when Paul Sewald and Jerry Blevins combined to load the bases with two outs. But AJ Ramos struck out pinch hitter Derek Dietrich and then worked a hitless seventh.
Seth Lugo allowed a two-out triple to Starlin Castro in the eighth before left fielder Brandon Nimmo preserved the shutout with a diving catch of Brian Anderson's sinking liner. Jeurys Familia then earned his 13th save with a one-hit ninth. Familia recorded the final out when Lewis Brinson was called out trying to slide headfirst into first with a runner at second.
Asdrubal Cabrera had two hits for the Mets, including an RBI double in the third. Wilmer Flores provided some insurance with a pinch-hit run-scoring single in the seventh. Michael Conforto added two hits.
Castro had two hits for the Marlins.
Rookie Elieser Hernandez (0-1) took the hard-luck loss for the Marlins after allowing one run on five hits and no walks while striking out three over five innings. It was the second career start for the 23-year-old Hernandez, whom Miami selected from the Houston Astros in the Rule 5 draft last December.
--Field Level Media