Robert Gsellman Battles Through Five Innings In Loss To Marlins

Robert Gsellman made his first start of the season on Saturday night. After getting hit hard early, he was able to settle down and get through five innings. 

During spring training, there was plenty of hype surrounding New York Mets starting pitcher Robert Gsellman. He took the mound for the first time this season on Saturday as the Mets took on the Miami Marlins.

The Marlins were able to get to Gsellman early in the game. Miguel Rojas doubled with one out in the top of the first inning. Gsellman then got Christian Yelich to ground out. He had a chance to get out of the inning unscathed, but allowed a two-out RBI single to Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton.

In the top of the second inning, Marcell Ozuna led off by taking Gsellman deep over the left field wall to extend the Marlins lead to 2-0. Gsellman then settled down and retired the next three batters, but the damage was already done.

Gsellman got into trouble again during the next inning. He allowed a leadoff triple to J.T. Realmuto on a fly ball that was misplayed by center fielder Curtis Granderson. Rojas followed with a sacrifice fly. The fourth inning was Gsellman’s best one of the night. He did not surrender any hits or walks. The only baserunner was Adeiny Hechavarria, who reached base on an error by Wilmer Flores.

After four innings, the Marlins still led 3-0. The top of the fifth got off to a bad start when Rojas drew a walk to start the inning. Gsellman then got Yelich to strike out looking. The next batter was Stanton, who lined a single into right center field. This allowed Rojas to go from first to third. With runners at the corners and just one out, Gsellman desperately needed to get a few big outs to avoid letting the game get out of hand. Fortunately, he had just enough left in him to get through the inning. He got Justin Bour to ground out to third base, forcing Rojas to remain put. Gsellman then got perhaps his biggest out of the night when he struck out Ozuna to end the inning.

Mets manager Terry Collins decided to pull Gsellman after five innings. In the end, his line was not as bad as it could have been. Gsellman allowed three earned runs on six hits. He gave up two walks and recorded seven strikeouts. On a night where he clearly did not have his best stuff, he was still able to battle through five innings and limit the damage.

The Mets added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a Lucas Duda solo home run. However, the offense was unable to get a substantial rally going after that. The Mets bullpen ended up surrendering five runs, and the Marlins went on to win the game 8-1.

Tonight, the Mets will try and avoid getting swept by the Marlins. Noah Syndergaard will be on the hill after throwing six shutout innings on Opening Day.