DETROIT -- Noah Syndergaard went soft -- and that made it too hard for the New York Mets to beat the Detroit Tigers.

Victor Martinez smashed a long two-run homer and James McCann added an RBI single in a three-run fourth inning that brought Detroit from behind to a 4-3 victory over the Mets on Friday night, the Tigers' ninth win in their last 10 games.

Syndergaard (9-6) was betrayed by his off-speed pitches in the fourth, not his upper-90s fastball. He gave up seven hits in six innings, walking two and striking out seven.

Miguel Cabrera lined a 1-2 changeup to left for a single leading off the fourth and Victor Martinez drilled a 1-0 changeup into the seats in right to put the Tigers back on top 3-2. It was Martinez's 19th home run of the season.

"There's been so much heat ... so many people commenting he's got to quit throwing so hard, that he's gotta back down," New York manager Terry Collins said, "and I don't know if he knows how to do that yet.

"I think he's trying to do what Pedro (Martinez) told him, do what other guys told him. I think he's trying to do that; I don't think he knows how to do that just yet."

J.D. Martinez followed Victor Martinez's home run with a double off the wall in right and scored from third when McCann lined a fastball for a two-out single to right, making it 4-2. A walk and double-play grounder put Martinez at third.

Justin Verlander (12-6) faced a Mets lineup packed with seven left-handed batters and allowed four hits in six innings. He struck out nine and walked one.

"I think Ver feeds off that type of stuff," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said of the pairing of his ace and New York's. "The more attention that's paid to a particular game he's pitching or the matchup, whether it's him versus Syndergaard, him versus Chris Sale, I think his concentration goes up another notch.

"Because he wants to beat that guy, even though they don't actually face each other in the American League, he wants to beat that guy or walk off the field with a lead. So, I think that's absolutely true. I think the competitor in him is probably -- when he was young, it was raw stuff, but he always had that competitor in him.

"I think that'll carry him down the road even farther."

Shane Greene and Justin Wilson each worked a scoreless inning and Francisco Rodriguez gave up a ninth-inning run but still notched his 31st save.

Neil Walker singled to lead off the ninth for the Mets, moved to second on a wild pitch, went to third on a groundout and scored on a groundout to first by James Loney.

Verlander walked his only batter with one out in the fourth and one out later, Kelly Johnson drove a hanging curve into the right field seats for his sixth home run of the season and a 2-1 Mets advantage.

New York opened the second with two singles but Verlander struck out the next two and, after a passed ball, got the third out on an easy fly to right.

"The guy on the mound is really good," Collins said of Verlander. "He knows how to pitch out of jams. He showed you that.

"You face a guy like Justin Verlander and you got a chance to get him, you better get him. Because if you don't and they settle in, they get you out."

The Tigers literally stole their way to a 1-0 lead in the first as Ian Kinsler singled, then swiped second and third off Syndergaard, who has had 47 bases stolen against him in 46 games over his two seasons in the majors.

"(His delivery to the plate from the stretch) was long enough for me to be able to steal third off him," Kinsler said. "You obviously have done research on guys. And if you see something, you want to take advantage of it if you can."

Cabrera then hit a high chopper to third that got Kinsler across the plate.

Detroit pulled to within two games of first-place Cleveland in the American League Central.

NOTES: Mets OF Michael Conforto's mother, Tracie Ruiz-Conforto, won two gold medals in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and a silver in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul in synchronized swimming. ... Each of New York RF Jay Bruce's six hits prior to his second-inning single Friday were home runs. ... Detroit signed its 18th international free agent, Australian OF Ulrich Bojarski. ... Tigers RHP Jordan Zimmermann will throw a bullpen session Sunday to test the condition of his right lat muscle, which bothered him in his 1 2/3-inning start Thursday. The disabled list remains a possibility.