NEW YORK -- Trevor Rogers bolstered his National League Rookie of the Year candidacy in a 2-1 walk-off loss in nine innings to the Mets in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Citi Field. Miami has dropped seven in a row.

Rogers allowed one run over five innings on 89 pitches (63 strikes). He struck out six the first time through the order, but none of the final eight batters he faced. Javier Báez became the Mets’ first baserunner with a two-out single in the fourth, and New York later tied the game at 1 on Kevin Pillar’s RBI single in the fifth to cap a nine-pitch at-bat.

• Box score

“I thought he was good tonight,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He held onto his stuff. His lines looked good. He had a good fastball tonight again. That's good to see the consistency starting to come back. You can tell he's kind of starting to get back into the groove. Obviously the year is coming to an end, but you're starting to see the guy that we saw in the first half, where he's able to use his fastball, his changeup's there, slider when he needs it. Some nights it's the change, some nights it's the slider. But I think the consistency of his fastball is really the key, because that's what sets everything up."

Through his first three starts upon his return from a month-long absence (family health matters), Rogers held a 4.97 ERA (12 2/3 IP, 7 ER) and was unable to complete five innings. In his past two starts, he has looked more like his old self with a 1.74 ERA (10 1/3 IP, 2 ER).

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The way things line up, Rogers will start Sunday’s season finale against the contending Phillies with one last chance to state his case for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Reds second baseman Jonathan India is considered the frontrunner.

The Mets are no strangers to Rogers, who shut them out across four innings in his Major League debut on Aug. 25, 2020, in Queens. In his second start of ‘21, Rogers set a then-career high with 10 strikeouts in six scoreless frames.

“He's pretty good,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said. “Long extremities and easiness throwing the ball. The fastball is a heavy 95 [mph]. It plays faster than that. Good feel for the changeup. Just a tough pitcher. Ever since we saw him the first time last year, he's dealt against us. Not a lot of difference. A little more command now maybe because of the experience pitching at the big league level. Last year, he was a little bit on and off in the zone, but right now -- he’s still a rookie -- but it's his second year now pitching in this platform, [and] you can see that it's more under control and attacking the zone better. He can be one of those special pitchers out there.”

The 23-year-old Rogers is the NL leader for rookies in several categories: ERA (2.64), WHIP (1.15), innings (133), strikeouts (157) and average against (.218). Opponents have been limited to three earned runs or fewer in all but one of his 25 starts.

Since the mound was lowered in 1969, only six other rookie pitchers have matched Rogers’ total in wins (seven) and strikeouts, while recording as low an ERA. Five of them have gone on to win the NL ROY Award: the late José Fernández (‘13), Hideo Nomo ('95), Dwight Gooden (‘84), Fernando Valenzuela (‘81) and Jon Matlack (‘72).

While it has been a breakout campaign for the All-Star Rogers, it has been a disappointing year for his ballclub. After advancing to the NL Division Series in the shortened 2020 season, Miami is trying to stay out of the NL East cellar with five games to go.

“It's kind of out of my hands,” Rogers said. “Try not to think about it too much. Really, it would drive me crazy if I really thought about it a whole lot. Like I said in the past, my main goal, my first goal every time I go out there is help this team win. That's my main priority. Personal stuff is secondary to me. But just having these two starts and feeling like myself again, hopefully that's enough to get some consideration.”