Francisco Lindor who? Shorthanded Mets erupt in fourth — again — against tired rivals

New York is tied with the NL East-leading Braves with 24 wins and have played a major-league-leading 30 games on the road

NEW YORK — So much for missing Francisco Lindor.

Hit hard by injuries, the New York Mets rallied from an early three-run deficit to beat the punchless Miami Marlins 5-3 on Sunday night, improving to 5-2 without their star shortstop.

Brandon Nimmo and Luis Guillorme had two hits apiece, and Jeff McNeil, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar each drove in a run as the NL East leaders stretched their winning streak to six straight.

'We've been a little short-handed, but that just shows what kind of depth we have': Brandon Nimmo

The latest victory was similar to Saturday's 6-4 win in 10 innings, when New York overcame a 4-0 deficit with four runs in the fourth and two more in the seventh.

"We've been a little short-handed, but that just shows what kind of depth we have," said Nimmo, who put the Mets on the board with an RBI single in the fourth.

After falling behind 3-0 on Joey Wendle's three-run homer off Carlos Carrasco, the Mets roughed up Marlins starter Edward Cabrera for three runs in the fourth.

Canha's RBI single made it 3-1, and after a walk to McNeil loaded the bases, Escobar tied it with a single. Nimmo's base hit gave New York a 4-3 lead.

McNeil made it 5-3 with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Carrasco (3-1) worked around six hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out four.

"He found a way to compete and minimize the damage," manager Buck Showalter said.

The Marlins have been outscored 29-3 in the first three games of the series

Sean Reid-Foley, Joely Rodriguez, and Adam Ottavino combined to allow one hit in 3 2/3 innings of relief.

Ottavino worked the ninth for his fifth save in five chances.

Cabrera (0-2) gave up four runs on six hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings.

The Marlins have been outscored 29-3 in the first three games of the series.

"We had a tough time offensively. No excuses. We've got to be better than that, especially in a game like today where we needed to score some runs to win the game," manager Don Mattingly said.

The Mets are tied with the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves with 24 wins and have played a major-league-leading 30 games on the road.

New York will open a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night at Citi Field.

Lindor is expected to be out until at least Tuesday with a sprained right ankle.