Marlins 7 Mets 5

This time, the Mets offense scored some runs — five, in fact. But the Mets pitching allowed more.

In truth, the game never seemed as close as it was. I will not go so far as to say the Mets gave up — they didn’t — but for whatever reason, the run differentiation — even when it was only 3, then 2 — seemed much larger than it was. Maybe it was me.

Game Notes

John Maine began his start by tossing 12 straight balls to walk the bases loaded and allowed 3 runs in the first frame, which required 40 pitches to complete. He threw a total of 112 in 5 weak innings, in which he allowed 6 runs on 7 hits and 5 walks. I truly believe that Maine would look a lot worse, and people would be calling for him to be demoted to the minors, if it were not for Oliver Perez. In other words, Maine is lucky to have Ollie around as the “ugly girl” — because Maine looks a lot prettier in comparison.

Jose Reyes returned to the leadoff spot and went 2-for-5 with a double and 2 runs scored. I’m sure it was just a coincidence.

With Reyes back on top, Angel Pagan and his .326 OBP was the #3 hitter. Not sure why, but whatever. Meantime #5 hitter David Wright (.406 OBP) went 2-for-3 with a run scored and 2 RBI. Even when Wright is slumping, he’s still the best hitter on the Mets. Did you know he’s first or second on the Mets in every major offensive category?

Luis Castillo drove in 2 runs with 2 hits, including a 390-foot double to right-center in the 9th. I know most Mets fans hate him, but his steady if unspectacular production is nowhere close to the reason the Mets are in fourth place.

Though, Castillo was caught napping in the bottom of the eighth, when Pedro Feliciano quick-pitched Hanley Ramirez and fooled Luis instead of Hanley. Castillo was looking down at his shoes as the pitch was delivered, and looked up just in time to see Hanley’s grounder bound up the middle and past him for a base hit. I doubt Castillo would’ve gotten to the ball AND thrown out the speedy Ramirez, but it didn’t look good.

Yes, fourth place. Weren’t they in first about a week ago? And in second a few days ago? Don’t look now, but the last-place Braves are now 17-19, but 6-4 in their last 10, while the 18-19 Mets are 3-7 over the same span — and have lost 4 in a row.

As long as we’re quoting numbers … the Mets’ 4-11 road record is among the worst in all MLB. The only team with a worse record on the road is the Orioles (5-15).

If there was a silver lining in this game, it was the fact the home team didn’t have to bat in the ninth — which saved an inning pitched by the bullpen.

Next Mets Game

The Marlins go for the sweep in the fourth and final contest at 1:10 PM on Sunday afternoon. Jon Niese pitches for the Mets against the Marlins’ Ricky Nolasco. Nolasco is 3-2 with a 3.66 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, and is averaging a hair under 7 IP per start.

An open gameday thread as we upgrade the MetsToday commenting system to the IntenseDebate platform. Dig in!

Marlins 7 Mets 2

Another chapter in the biography of Bad Ollie was written in Miami.

This time, he couldn’t blame the cold weather. He couldn’t blame the condition of the mound. He couldn’t blame a bad knee, or a stomach ache, or an umpire with a tight strike zone.

In short, Ollie is out of excuses.

The scary thing is, the Marlins might’ve scored even more than 7 runs in the first four frames, but Ollie was saved by a few excellent defensive plays behind him. At no point in his brief interaction with the Fish did Oliver Perez appear to have command, confidence, or a clue. Putting him on the mound every five days is becoming an embarrassment to both he and the Mets, and is turning into a sad story.

If there was a bright spot in the game, it was … hmm … I guess Raul Valdes pitching nearly 3 innings of perfect relief. See, there was that.

Game Notes

Oliver Perez allowed 7 earned runs on 9 hits (including 4 homeruns) and 3 walks in 3 1/3 innings. He threw more strikes than in his last debacle start, but unfortunately they were served on a silver platter — over the middle of the plate, waist high, at BP velocity. He threw a handful of decent sliders, but also threw several flat, fat ones — one of which was deposited into the left field seats by Dan Uggla, others that were just missed / fouled off by other hitters. Perez was lucky to get off the mound with “only” 7 runs attached to his line.

Anibal Sanchez was unlike Ollie, pitching 7 full innings and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks; he struck out 7.

Those 4 hits were the only ones mustered by the anemic Mets offense. Half of the hits were doubles by Angel Pagan — who drove in both Mets runs — and Rod Barajas.

With this loss, the Mets are now back to Omar Minaya’s target of .500 with an 18-18 record. And, the Marlins win boosted them to an identical 18-18 record.

For those who are scoreboard watching, the Braves won, making their record 17-18. So the NL East race at the moment is the Phillies in first, Nationals (!) in second, and a three-team fight for the basement. At least he Mets are fighting for something.

Next Mets Game

Game three of this four-game set begins at 7:10 PM on Saturday night. John Maine faces Nate Robertson. You can be sure that Jerry Manuel will be pulling out every stop to win, because his job is suddenly teetering toward jeopardy again — and I don’t mean an appearance with Alex Trebek.