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New York Mets Late Inning Magic Runs Out Against Miami Marlins

By Kenneth Teape

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4. 82. 3. 3. Final

New York Mets Late-Game Comeback Falls Short Against Miami Marlins

The New York Mets were involved in yet another pitcher’s duel for the better part of the evening against the Miami Marlins Tuesday night. Unfortunately, they were unable to pull another rabbit out of the hat like on Monday night, as the Marlins came through in what turned out to be their last at-bat, giving the Mets a taste of their own medicine.

All of the scoring tonight came between inning 6-8, as both teams received strong starts. For the Mets, Rafael Montero was called up from Triple-A to make the spot start, and things started out well.

Montero was cruising prior to the sixth inning. He retired the first nine Marlins he faced, giving up only three base runners the first five innings. Martin Prado was the only Marlin to get a hit, as Michael Morse reached on an error by Eric Campbell and Adeiny Hechavarria was intentionally walked in the fifth inning. He also struck out six batters over that span, as he looked to be in complete control.

But once the sixth inning started, things unraveled for Montero. He was starting his third go-round with the Marlins and they must have picked up on something throughout the game because they finally started figuring things out at the plate.

Dee Gordon started the inning off with a single, and reached second on an error by Curtis Granderson in right field. Prado then sacrificed him over to third base, and he was quickly knocked in by a Giancarlo Stanton single right after.

Pablo Ozuna then reached base by way of an infield single, moving Stanton to third. With men on the corners, Montero was able to get Morse to fly out to left field. With two outs he faced rookie catcher Jacob Realmuto, and he won the battle singling and scoring Stanton. Montero would then be replaced by Buddy Carlyle, who subsequently threw a wild pitch that scored Ozuna before retiring Ichiro Suzuki to end the inning.

Montero finished the evening with 5 ⅔ innings pitched, giving up five hits and one walk resulting in three runs to go with the six strikeouts. While he came one out away from a quality start, this one feels like a slight disappointment as it started off so well, yet ended so poorly. An encouraging sign though is that he was able to throw strikes tonight, as the only walk was of the intentional variety. Last season as a starter with the Mets Montero was a bit ineffective because of the amount of walks he issued; in 2014 he averaged 4.67 walks per nine innings, a very poor number.

Montero was quickly taken off the hook though, as the Mets answered in the top of the seventh. Like Montero, Marlins’ starting pitcher David Phelps was cruising but hit a bump his final inning. Phelps was rolling through six innings, but ran into trouble in the seventh.

The Mets managed only six base runners the first six innings, one of which reached because of an Stanton error in right field that Phelps was able to work around. He was not so lucky in the seventh, as things quickly piled up.

The first two guys, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Anthony Recker reached with singles. Phelps was then replaced by A.J. Ramos, who retired Wilmer Flores. He then gave up a single to Granderson to load the bases for Juan Lagares. Lagares would come through in a big way, as he delivered a bases clearing double.

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That would be all the Mets were able to muster in the inning, and for the game, as Mike Dunn then came in and retired the two men he faced. They would threaten in the eighth inning again, but a leadoff double by Monday night’s hero Daniel Murphy went for naught, as Ruben Tejada then grounded into a fielder’s choice with Murphy being thrown out at third. Recker would walk, but Michael Cuddyer couldn’t come through as a pinch-hitter, grounding out to end the inning.

The Marlins were able to break through again in the eighth, as Morse delivered the game-winning RBI with a single, scoring Ozuna.

Closer Steve Cishek then came in and closed the door on the Mets successfully this time. Granderson walked to start the inning, but Cishek retired the next three batters successfully for his second save of the season.

The Mets and Marlins will wrap up their series tomorrow night, as Bartolo Colon will look to take the rubber game of the series for the Mets, and will be opposed by Mat Latos.

Next: Are the Mets No.1 in the MLB Power Rankings?

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