@Mets 4, Marlins 3: Miami squandered umpteen baserunners, then donated the game in the 9th. Ahead 3-2 with 1 out and none on, Steve Cishek aimed inside on a 2-2 count to Ruben Tejada, and nicked him. Kirk Nieuwenhuis looped a single to left-center, and Tejada dared the rag-armed Juan Pierre to catch him at 3rd.

With a 1-run lead and 1 out, Pierre’s play was to 2nd base: Keep the DP in order, keep the winning run at 1st. But he threw to 3rd, badly, and when the rookie 3B came off the bag for the throw and kept his head down afterwards, Nieuwenhuis waltzed over to 2nd. Then came the manager’s move I don’t think I’ve seen before:

Mike Redmond brought his infield in — with the game-ending run on 2nd base.

Marlon Byrd bounced one sharply down the line, beyond the dive of the drawn-in third sacker, and the Mets walked off happy-go-lucky — very, very lucky.

What do you think of Redmond’s decision? I don’t see the logic. If the Mets had a good bullpen, that would be some reason not to concede the run and thus face extra innings on the road. But the Mets have a bad bullpen, and they had already used 5 relievers and all but one bench player.

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Twins 4, @Orioles 3: Make it O’s-and-3 in 1-run games, now, while the 4-2 Twins held their share of 1st place. Minny’s small-ball forged the lead in the 7th — a sac bunt by #8 put 2 in scoring position, who came in on a sac fly and a basic bingle by the .050-hitting leadoff man. Baltimore had more baserunners and the game’s only HR, but hit 2 inning-ending DPs with 2 men aboard.

Yankees 7, @Tigers nada: Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia, nos. 1 and 2 in wins since 2006, met for the first time since the 2011 ALCS, and the big southpaw came out ahead with 7 hard-earned scoreless innings. Verlander walked Vernon Wells in the 2nd and later hung one to Jayson Nix, and that was about it. He gave up no more runs in his 7.1 IP, but his mates went 0-5 with RISP and left 11 men on.

• JV’s 17 career games against the Yanks have averaged 3 runs and about 6-1/3 IP, including the postseason (omitting a rain-shortened 1-inning start).
• Detroit’s bullpen ERA was 6.43 going in, 8.04 coming out.

@Braves 5, Cubs 1: Jeff Samardzija fanned 13 of the first 21 batters — a new career high in Ks, and the Cubs’ high since Mark Prior 2004. But he let in the tying run with 2 wild pitches in the 5th (use your chest, Dioner, not your hands!), and lost his command with 2 out in the 6th, when the Braves tallied thrice. Ramiro Pena hit a tiebreaking 2-run single on a 1-2 count, Samardzija’s 105th pitch (and his last).

• Freddie Freeman may have reason to be irked about the communication, but not the decision. “They didn’t even give me a choice. It’s my career. I should be able to make that decision.” I’ll assume that’s heat-of-the-moment logic, and that, on calmer reflection, he sees that in a team sport, management makes that call, for the good of the team. Either way, how do you improve communication by venting the issue to the media?

Indians 13, @Rays zilch: It was a mismatch, but not the one we expected: David Price had won 5 of 6 prior starts against Cleveland, with a 1.64 ERA. Justin Masterson had been 1-7, 7.74 against Tampa. The 8 ER off Price is a new career high. Masterson’s 2-0, 0.69 start to this year echoes 2011, when he won his first 5 outings with a 2.18 ERA. Convertible BenZ had both the Rays’ hits when he left after 6 innings.

• What happened to Masterson last year, when his ERA jumped from 3.21 to 4.93 despite decent peripherals? In a sense, bad timing. He was dominant with bases empty, but with anyone on his BA shot from .228 to .318, his OPS from .640 to .850 — each the 2nd-biggest gap of its kind out of all 2012 qualifiers. It’s been a problem for him before; 2011 was the exception. This year he just hasn’t let many reach base. He faced one challenge in this game, loading the bags with 2 out in the 1st on a hit and 2 walks, but he fanned Yunel Escobar on 3 pitches and was barely touched afterwards.
• Carlos Santana went 5-3-5-3, two doubles and a dinger. He’d never had 4 hits in a game before.
• Mark Reynolds has 6 hits, 4 of them HRs. Last year’s Cleveland DHs batted .226/.702, with 22 HRs, 72 RBI. Reynolds, a .213 hitter over the past 3 years, should feel right at home.

@Reds 6, Nationals 3: Of the teams he’s faced twice or more, only the Phillies have hit Stephen Strasburg harder. Cincinnati got 13 baserunners off him, 2 more than his prior high. He has consecutive starts with 5 Ks or less; the only other time he’s done that was Sept. 2011, coming back from T.J. surgery on an 80-pitch limit.

• In the 6th, the Reds broke it open after Danny Espinosa’s bad gamble/bad throw on a play at the plate. Know your baserunners, Danny: Derrick Robinson is a 4-time 50-steal man in the minors, and he’s not up here for his bat. And even if you make that play, it’s still 2 on, 1 out, and meat of the order hitting. Take that risk in the 8th, when a run means Chapman comes in with a lead — but not in the 6th.
• Strasburg twice whiffed with a man on 2nd and a chance to get the lead.

Red Sox 13, @Blue Jays zip: Boston captured the series with their biggest outburst of HRs and total bases since 2011, and Jon Lester’s first scoreless start since last April.

• Since 1916, Will Middlebrooks is the 3rd BoSox third baseman with 3 HRs in a game; all three did it on the road. He flied out in the 8th, bidding for Boston’s first 4-HR game.
• He’s the 6th BoSox with 14+ total bases, joining (game links) 2B Dustin Pedroia, SS John Valentin, CF Fred Lynn, LF Yaz and 1B Norm Zauchin. Their record is 13 TB for the other hitting positions: RF, Jim Rice; C, Jason Varitek; DH, Jack Clark. For pitchers, their record is 10, shared by Jack Wilson and another guy who faded from memory.
• No one should panic over R.A. Dickey’s first two starts; I still think he’ll be good for the Jays. But Mets fans should see why trading him last winter was the best course. His value was never going to be higher.

Royals 9, @Phillies 8: A 5-run lead turned into a nail-biter, and again it started with a leadoff walk. With the winning run on 2nd, Eric Kratz fouled off 5 straight 1-2 pitches before he finally succumbed.

• So, you can get salami in a Country Breakfast, after all. That’s a first for Butler in 64 tries, and his 104th career HR. His 7 RBI ties the Royals record, shared by 10 others.
• Phils had 14 Ks and 15 hits — first regulation game since 2011 where a team had 14+ Ks and more hits. The first such game was in 1967, then 1975 and 1990 — and 9 times since 1998.

@White Sox 4, Mariners 3: It’s not easy to fall behind free-swinging Dayan Viciedo, but those who do often pay like this. The Tank has hit .348/1.072 when ahead in the count, but .260/.738 overall — among the biggest such splits you’ll find.

• Hisashi Iwakuma worked 8 innings on 89 pitches, with no walks and 4 hits, but 2 of them HRs.

Athletics 9, @Astros 3: Well, if he’s going to slug 1.000, why not put Jed Lowrie at cleanup?