MIAMI _ The umpires cracked the door open for the Mets on Monday night, and Pete Alonso knocked it off its hinges.
Alonso's first major-league home run was a huge one in a literal and figurative sense, a three-run, 444-foot shot to straightaway center in the ninth inning of the Mets' 7-3 win against the Marlins.
The game was tied until the Mets broke out for four runs in the final frame. A key piece of that rally: plate ump Sam Holbrook rewarded Juan Lagares first base when he sent a two-strike bunt foul. Instead of a strikeout, it was ruled a hit-by-pitch off Lagares' hand, giving the Mets two on and none out. Amed Rosario's opposite-field single gave the Mets the lead before Alonso added the long ball.
Reliever Edwin Diaz gave the Mets anxious moments in the ninth, loading the bases with none out before striking out the side.
Altogether, the win made good on manager Mickey Callaway's pregame promise _ and point of emphasis to his team _ not to sleep on the rebuilding Marlins.
"We have to come out this series and play like they are the Nationals. You can't let up," Callaway said. "These are the games, these are the series that mean just as much. When you look up at the end of the year, we need to have taken care of business when we play teams, whether it's the Nationals or the Marlins or whomever. We have to take care of business and play the game the exact same way."
The Mets never held a lead until the ninth, but came back from small deficits twice _ in the fourth, when J.D. Davis scored on a wild pitch, and in the seventh, when Lagares homered.
The ninth-inning rally allowed the Mets to capitalize on a strong start from left-hander Steven Matz.
For most of his season debut, Matz did exactly as Callaway desired: threw first-pitch strikes consistently, managed not to get rattled when he gave up hits and was efficient with his pitch count.
Shoddy defense did him no favors, though, and Matz wound up lasting only 5 1/3 innings (74 pitches) Monday night against the Marlins. He gave up three runs (one earned), six hits and no walks, striking out three.
Matz threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of his 22 batters, 86 percent _ way higher than his 56.6-percent rate last season and his 60.3-percent rate in his career.
"There's no better thing than strike one," Callaway said Monday afternoon. "I'm a firm believer _ and I've always believed this _ that strike one is your best weapon. It doesn't matter how nasty strike one is, just get strike one in there. And when you get it 1-and-1, throw a strike. Always control that count.
"The team that do that the best go and play in the playoffs. That's usually the secret formula, if there is one, just getting ahead with your pitching staff. If you have enough talent, which we definitely do, and we get ahead, then we'll probably be in the playoffs."
The playoff question is one for five or six months down the line. For a night, at least, Matz did what Callaway wanted and was as effective as Callaway promised that strategy would be.
It was his teammates, notably catcher Wilson Ramos and third baseman Davis, who gave him the most trouble. Ramos' passed ball in the first allowed Starlin Castro to bat with two outs and one out; he homered. Davis had an adventure of a night at hot corner, including a sixth-inning climax: an unusually soft throw to second on a potential double-play ball, a dropped catch on a throw from Lagares that could have nabbed the runner, and an RBI single off his glove.
