The Mets staged a strong attempt at a comeback after falling behind 7-0, but Chris Coghlan ultimately gave the Marlins their dagger with a 3-run bomb off Fernando Nieve in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Jonathon Niese started and got into trouble in the third inning. He gave up a single and then a walk to start the inning. Ricky Nolasco attempted a sacrifice bunt that he hit right back to Niese, who tried to get the force at third. It was a pretty good throw, but David Wright took his eye off the ball in an attempt to turn a double play to first and dropped the ball.
Two batters later, Gaby Sanchez hit a swinging bunt that Niese threw away to first. Niese injured his right hamstring on the play, called an “aggravated hamstring” by the Mets, and he’s headed back to New York for further testing.
After the Marlins piled on (including a Dan Uggla homer) and made the game 7-6, the Mets stormed back with a 6-run rally over the 6th and 7th innings. In the sixth, Chris Carter provided an RBI single and David Wright a 2-run double to make it 7-3; in the seventh, runs came in on a Jose Reyes groundout and an Alex Cora 2-run double.
But Coghlan’s homer put the Marlins ahead four, and they would never relinquish that lead, despite a Gary Matthews RBI single (wow!) in the eighth and a Castillo RBI groundout (scoring Bay, who had hit a triple) in the ninth.
The Mets hit into two air double plays early, one in which Reyes ran on the pitch and didn’t pick up the ball, and one that Reyes smoked to second but Jon Niese flinched the wrong way.
It’s a good statement towards the team’s character to see them score in the final four innings. But it’s also a testament to their terrible preparation and fundamentals to see the errors they make. It’s in the coaching.
After five straight losses, Jerry Manuel will really be feeling the heat this week. The Mets have two in Atlanta and two in Washington before they face the Yankees at home. Omar Minaya will be making an unscheduled trip to Atlanta…who knows what the future holds.
The Mets are 18-20, in fourth place, and have shown signs of being a good team, but they still need more pitching, more hitting, and less bad luck. Hopefully Niese is okay-his injury was not nearly as ugly this time-but the rotation is in a very precarious state. And the Mets desperately need the lineup to pick it up. Hopefully Murphy can return soon (he visited the team today, will be on a rehab assignment soon) as a platoon/utility/pinch hitting player, and then Beltran shortly after.
Let’s go Mets!
