Marlins 7 Mets 6

So much for the afterglow.

The Mets were removed from the top of the NL East in a game that was so poorly played by the Marlins, it resembled a high school JV contest.

For six innings, it didn’t appear as though the Mets had much of a chance to win. Ricky Nolasco handled the Mets easily and was cruising with a 6-1 lead. Then in the 7th, he ran out of gas, put the game in the incapable left hand of Renyel Pinto, who allowed the Mets to scratch out two runs to make it a three-run ballgame. Pinto completely shat the bed, and left the game with the bases loaded and David Wright at the plate; the stage was set for a momentus, dramatic at-bat by the new Mets leader.

Jose Veras came in and threw his first pitch over the head of catcher John Baker. Fernando Tatis came sprinting for home, but Baker got to the ball quickly, made a perfect throw to Veras, who tagged out Tatis to end the inning.

The Marlins did give the Mets three more runs in the eighth to tie the game, but the momentum was gone. In the 10th, Ronny Paulino singled in Wes Helms to spoil Hisanori Takahashi’s debut and give the Mets their first loss of the year.

Game Notes

Though the game went into extra innings, and the Mets “came back” from a five-run deficit, do not be fooled — the Marlins did everything in their power to give away this game, and somehow managed not to lose. The SNY post-game spin was that the Mets “hung in there” and “kept fighting” but the truth is, the Mets merely kept from falling asleep. It was an ugly game for a baseball fan to watch.

Fernando Tatis – He made a terrible mistake in attempting to score on that wild pitch. However, it wasn’t necessarily a terrible decision; rather, the execution was bad. Tatis did not get a very good “secondary lead” off 3B, and thus was only a few feet off the bag when the ball deflected off Baker’s glove. Tatis reacted immediately, but had too much ground to cover. It was a bang-bang play, but would’ve been an easy score had he been a few feet further down the line from the get-go. Though, had Tatis scored, the Fish might’ve walked Wright to face Mike “Automatic Out” Jacobs, and who knows how that might’ve turned out.

John Maine – was John Maine: zero command, up in the zone all night, inefficient. He did get 3 Ks in 5 IP, but also allowed 2 gopher balls and threw 92 pitches in those five frames. From the beginning, he was behind 2-0 on nearly every batter, and you can’t be successful at any level of baseball with that kind of pattern. Additionally, his lack of velocity was mildly concerning.

Umpires – The Mets scored the tying run on a questionable balk call. That’s what it took for the Mets to tie the game — a questionable balk.

Jennry Mejia – I’m going to give the kid the benefit of the doubt and chalk up his awful appearance to nerves. Let’s hope he’s relaxed next time out and shows us what he really can do.

Sean Green – I’m not sold on that in-between arm angle; it looks like he’s skipping stones across a pond, and the ball looks flat.

Mets Offense – happy to finally see some patience at the plate. The Fish bullpen resembled the Mets’ 2009 pitching staff with their wildness, but previous personnel would not have taken advantage.

Marlins Offense – collected 17 hits to the Mets’ 6, yet squeaked out a one-run win.

Fredi Gonzalez – How is this man still the Marlins manager? For four years now, he has led teams lacking in focus and fundamentals. Payroll is no excuse for lack of execution nor attention to detail. It’s remarkable he spent time under Bobby Cox, and more remarkable the Fish felt he was a better option than Joe Girardi. Every year the Marlins are loaded with young, raw talent, yet perennially beat themselves.

Next Mets Game

The third and final game of the opening series begins at 7:10 PM in Flushing on Thursday night. Jon Niese takes the mound against Nate Robertson in a lefty-lefty matchup.