Mets Game 3: Loss to Marlins

Marlins 3 Mets 1

Fish pitching held the Mets to one measly run on seven hits and no walks as a solid outing by Jon Niese was wasted. Without the benefit of the Marlins making mistakes on the mound and in the field, the Mets didn’t have a chance.

Game Notes

Jon Niese threw an acceptable and admirable six innings, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. Not a fabulous outing, but encouraging and perfectly fine for a fifth starter. Unfortunately, he is currently the #3 starter.

The Mets offense was unimpressive. No walks? Not one? Stark contrast to the previous evening, when they walked 9 times. Makes you wonder if Wednesday’s walk-a-thon was really a credit to the Mets hitters or simply a bad night by the Marlins hurlers.

Burke Badenhop threw three innings of one-hit, scoreless relief, relying primarily on an 84-MPH fastball and soft stuff that ranged from 72-79 MPH — you would’ve thought he was throwing a knuckleball (he wasn’t). I was mildly suprised that Fredi Gonzalez lifted Badenhop in favor of wild man Leo Nunez for the ninth; I don’t care if Nunez is the closer — Badenhop had the Mets completely befuddled, and had thrown 35 pitches in three frames, so why not just let him finish it out?

Angel Pagan rapped two hits from the leadoff spot, begging us to wonder why he wasn’t there for games One and Two. Though, his defense remains a bit shaky, even if he made all the plays. With the Mets’ anemic offense, I’ll deal with occasional outfield adventures to get his bat into the lineup.

Ryota Igarashi made his MLB debut and did the job, pitching one shutout inning. However I’m a bit concerned about his location, and believe he will be susceptible to the gopher ball. He got away with a flat, hanging split that Hanley Ramirez crushed into foul territory.

Fernando Nieve is on pace to appear in 162 games.

Jorge Cantu had two more hits and an RBI. Ted Berg, are you reading this? You know what I’m talking about.

Ronny Paulino drives me nuts as a backstop. He is a gifted athlete, and could be a very good defensive catcher. But when he’s not being lazy he’s unbalanced in his stance and moving around too much — not giving his pitchers a stationary target and making it difficult for the umpire to get a good look at the pitch. With a moving target behind the dish, it’s no wonder the Fish pitchers have trouble throwing strikes.

Next Mets Game

The Mets open a three-game series with the Washington Nationals at 7:10 PM in Flushing on Friday night. Mike Pelfrey takes the hill against Garrett Mock.