MIAMI -- Eager to give himself some run support, New York Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese stepped to the plate with a runner at third and dropped down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt. Oakland Athletics Pro Shop . His teammates, meanwhile, swung away -- and connected. Daniel Murphy hit a three-run homer and the Mets matched a season high with 17 hits Sunday to beat the slumping Miami Marlins 11-5. Niese (4-4), who has been plagued by a lack of offensive help this year, won for the first time since May 22 and enjoyed pitching with a big lead. "It was a good feeling," he said. "We hit them hard and hit them early. Its a lot more comfortable going out there, and youre able to pound the zone." Niese allowed less than four earned runs for the 19th consecutive start, giving up three in six innings. "The offence really busted out, and Jonathon did another great job," teammate David Wright said. "Every time he takes the ball, you think hes going to go nine innings, and offensively we havent done a lot to pick him up. Im glad we were able to do that today." Niese -- batting eighth -- drove in a run with a bunt in the second inning. Manager Terry Collins joked that he hadnt called for a suicide squeeze since 2006, and Niese said it might have been the first of his career. "Luckily was able to get a pitch I could put down," Niese said. Kirk Nieuwenhuis scored without a play for a 2-0 lead. "The squeeze was huge," Collins said. "We dont do that much, but I wanted to see if we could get something started, so we tried something different." The bulk of the offence, however, came from higher in the order. Wright drove in a run for the sixth game in a row. Curtis Granderson thrived again in the leadoff spot, reaching base four consecutive times. He and Lucas Duda each had three hits. Murphy had two hits, including his sixth homer. Nieuwenhuis, making his first start since being recalled from Triple-A, doubled twice. "Weve been waiting a long time to break one open," Collins said. "People think we play ugly game. Were getting beat 4-3 and 3-2. Were hanging in there. We get a lot of guys on, we just havent been able to get big hits. When you have big hits, you look great." Rookie Anthony DeSclafani (1-2), making his fourth major league start, gave up seven runs in 3 2-3 innings and departed with a 7.59 ERA. He was unable to keep the ball down or throw breaking pitches for strikes. "I fell behind hitters, and the fastballs were flying up in the zone," he said. "When that happens, youre not going to get the results you want." The Marlins (37-38) fell below .500 for the first time since April 30. Ten days ago they had the best home record in the majors, but they went 3-7 on their longest homestand of the year, losing all three series. "You just have to keeping grinding and stay positive," Garrett Jones said. "Its a long season. Every team runs into this type of thing where the offence isnt clicking and the pitching isnt clicking." The Mets had scored a total of 13 runs in Nieses previous five starts, but he led 7-0 before giving up three runs in the sixth. The left-hander then struck out Derek Dietrich with the bases loaded to end the inning and his afternoon. Nieses performance was part of a trend. Mets starters have an ERA of 1.74 over the past six games. The Mets have won four of their past five, but they still trail NL East leader Washington by five games. "If we keep the starting pitching going and keep the offence going, I think we should climb back in this thing," Niese said. NOTES: Marlins SS Adeiny Hechavarria (elbow) sat out his second game in a row but was feeling better available to pinch-hit. ... Marlins Spanish-language radio announcer Felo Ramirez celebrated his 91st birthday. ... The Mets improved to 16-11 in day games. ... The game drew a crowd of 24,613, plus 605 dogs on "Bark in the Park" day. ... The Mets begin a two-game homestand Tuesday when RHP Bartolo Colon (7-5, 3.88) pitches against Oakland. ... The Marlins begin a four-game series at Philadelphia on Monday when RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-3, 3.76) pitches against RHP Roberto Hernandez (3-5, 4.52). Stitched Athletics Jerseys . Its the second time this season that Milan has been sanctioned by the league judge, after fans also subjected Napoli supporters to discriminatory chants. The ban will come into effect for Milans next match, against Udinese on Oct. Chris Bassitt Athletics Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/ . Gaborik was acquired in a trade with Columbus on Wednesday and skated on the top line with centre Anze Kopitar and right-winger Justin Williams. "We created some things," said Gaborik, who logged 16:38 of ice time.VANCOUVER - Ask Zach Collaros teammates about him and most immediately point to how competitive the Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback is.Its been like that for about as long as the 26-year-old Ohio native can remember.My mom and dad have got some stories about that, Collaros said with a wry smile. It was always bad at family reunions. Wed go to St. Louis, for my moms side of the family, and wed be playing a softball game. Id be like seven years old treating it like its the World Series. Youve got 80-year-old grandmothers out there playing.Everyone hated me for it, but its gotten me to where I am so far. Its been good for me.Off the field, the clean-cut Collaros looks anything but a wild man. He is quiet, polite and respectful.But he is different behind centre.Zach Collaros is a beast, said Ticats cornerback Delvin Breaux. When I saw him play at Toronto last year, I was like that guys very competitive. He can play. Thats who we need at the helm of a team. You need that quarterback thats going to have that competitive nature and the will to win. Thats who Zach Collaros is. Hes a great competitor.Highly competitive, wants to be great, echoed head coach Kent Austin.Collaros and Calgary counterpart Bo Levi Mitchell, another relative newcomer, will share the spotlight Sunday in the 102nd Grey Cup. In his third year in the CFL, Collaros has found a home in Hamilton after two years in the shadow of Toronto star Ricky Ray.Hes a proven winner at every level, from high school through college, Austin said of Collaros. He got put on the road in a tough situation before we got him, the year before, when he was in Toronto, and won some tough games on the road. I know because we were trying to catch Toronto in the standings, and we couldnt.Collaros went 41-1 in three years as starting quarterback at Ohios Steubenville High School, posting a 30-0 record the final two years en route to back-to-back state titles.At the University of Cincinnati, he completed 485 of 783 passes for 6,272 yards and 51 touchdowns. He also rushed 268 times for 1,240 yards and 16 touchdowns.Listed at six foot and 216 pounds, Collaros is anything but prototypical NFL quarterback size.He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but was released a week later after mini-camp.The difficult thing was up until that point I had never been told I wasnt good enough to be somewhere — athletically, said Collaros. A month later, he signed as a free agent with the Argonauts.He dressed for four regular-season games and won a Grey Cup ring in April 2012 but failed to seee the field as the Argos downed Calgary in what was Rays hometown show. Oakland Athletics Gear. ts at home so I havent looked at it, Collaros said of his ring. In 2013, he went 5-3 as starter when Ray went down, leading Toronto to four crucial road wins.Collaros joined the Ticats as a free agent in January after the Argos, realizing he did not plan to re-sign, released him. He is generous in his praise to Ray and Toronto coach Scott Milanovich.I learned a lot about football from both of them, he said.Collaros, who moved his home a couple of kilometres down the road after the move, admits being able to stay close to his family in Ohio played a big part in his choice of Steeltown.Im a very family-oriented guy. I love my hometown, he said. I love my family and friends that are back there .. Having my parents be able to come to the games was huge for me.It has not all been smooth sailing this year.He was hurt in the Ticats fourth game of the season, a 28-24 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos on July 4. Collaros missed five games with concussion-related problems, with the Ticats going 1-4 in his absence.It was definitely hard to stay positive, he said of his time on the sideline. There were some tough times, but the training staff did a great job with me.His teammates and coaches told him to take his time coming back. Collaros is particularly indebted to Austin.He understood the injury, how serious it can be, he said.Austin also told him that no matter what happened, Collaros was his quarterback.He was very patient with the whole thing and very supportive. And I appreciate that and he knows that i appreciate that.Collaros return was more than timely. Hamilton was 1-6 going into its Labour Day debut at Tom Hortons Field.With a healthy Collaros at the helm, the Cats went on to win eight of the next 11 including all six games at their new stadium to finish the season at 9-9. Collaros is meticulous in his pre-game work. It is his safety blanket.As long as I do my due diligence during the week and Im prepared for the game, usually that leads to good things, he said.Added Austin: (He) prepares really hard. Hes very, very unselfish. Hes endearing to his teammates. The guys dont ever question whether Zach will come to play and be prepared to play.Collaros completed 279 of 424 passes for 3,26 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. He also rushed 57 times for 328 yards.Hes got all the talent in the world, said receiver Andy Fantuz.The plays never over for him. He can move around and make plays.Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter ' ' '