Kodai Senga struggles in the fifth as Mets fall to Marlins, 5-2

The New York Mets saw a promising start fade quickly, then ran out of ways to create enough late offense as they fell to the Miami Marlins 5-2. The game pivoted around the middle innings, where Mets right-hander Kodai Senga ran into difficulty in the fifth inning and Miami built a lead the Mets could not fully reverse.

Senga’s outing became the defining thread of the contest. After working through earlier damage, the Marlins were able to find a productive stretch in the fifth inning, turning contact and baserunning pressure into the kind of scoring that New York struggled to answer. From that point, even when the Mets managed to get back into rallies, they were not able to sustain them long enough to close the gap.

Offensively, the Mets were stymied throughout. According to the game report, they “didn’t have much going offensively” on Friday night, unable to consistently string together hits and convert them into the multi-run innings that typically keep a one-sided game from turning into a steady grind. New York did not eliminate the deficit entirely, but each attempt to make it a one-run game was met by Miami’s ability to limit the damage once the Marlins regained command of the innings.

Miami’s approach showed up in how it handled the Mets’ attempts to reset. Instead of allowing a quick momentum swing, the Marlins carried pressure into the middle of the game, then managed the lead without giving New York an opening for a decisive surge. The final margin, 5-2, reflected a game where one side created its scoring on schedule and the other did not.

For the Mets, the loss is a reminder of how narrow the margin can be in games that are tight through the first few innings. Even with a strong starting rotation presence, a middle-inning stumble can force the offense into chasing the game, and chasing often reduces the quality of at-bats as pitchers adjust and bullpen usage tightens. With Miami ahead, the Mets’ swing-and-miss moments and missed chances had a compounding effect.

For the Marlins, the result matters on a practical level as well as a confidence level. Wins like this come from building an advantage at the right time and then maintaining it, especially against a New York lineup that can flip a game with one or two big innings when the timing is there. By turning the fifth inning into separation, Miami gave itself room to survive the Mets’ late efforts.

What to watch next is whether New York can avoid repeating the same pattern: limited sustained scoring followed by a bullpen-heavy finish. If the Mets want to tighten outcomes in similar games, it will likely start with earlier production against starting pitching, so the offense is not forced to depend on catch-up innings once the lead expands.