Mets Game 156: Win Over Marlins

Mets 4 Marlins 0

Payback’s a beach …

It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the Marlins’ extinguishing of the Mets’ playoff chances at the end of the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but this game more or less put the kibosh on Florida’s shot at the Wild Card.

Patrick Misch used magic, voodoo, smoke, and mirrors to get through the first five frames, in which he allowed 11 baserunners — yet not one scored. After that, though, he set the Fish down in order, finishing his second MLB win, first shutout, and first complete game.

Meanwhile, the Mets scored four despite the absence of the cavalry — David Wright and Carlos Beltran both had the day off, and well, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes still aren’t back. So Jeff Francoeur picked up the slack, blasting his 14th homerun of the season (9th as a Met), and Anderson Hernandez of all people hitting a solo shot. Those two dingers and a sac fly by Josh Thole accounted for the day’s scoring.

Notes

Francoeur also reached over the rightfield wall to snare a fly ball off the bat of Chris Coghlan to prevent a homerun and preserve the shutout.

Wilson Valdez had three hits and played fine defense at shortstop.

Ronny Paulino drives me nuts; he might be one of the most athletic and skilled catchers in the National League, but his lapses in focus and bouts of laziness make him an enigma. He reminds me of Javier Lopez in a non-contract year.

The Marlins have so much good young pitching, but those youngsters can’t seem to put it together. I wonder if they would benefit from a veteran backstop like Pudge Rodriguez, or a different pitching coach / manager. There seems to be a lot of untapped potential on the Miami mound.

Next Mets Game

The Mets move on to Washington, DC to face the Nationals on Monday night. Nelson Figueroa faces Ross Detwiler in a 7:05 PM start.

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
  1. 2009 Analysis: Pat Misch : Mets Today October 15, 2009 at 3:53 pm
    […] battery had its good days and bad days — culminating with the first shutout of the season in game 156 and an impressive five-inning, one-run performance that was cut short by rain in game […]