Marlins 5
Mets 3
Everybody in baseball knows that Mike Piazza’s Achilles heel is his limited ability to throw out runners.
Stolen bases are like Kryptonite to the Met superhero, and the Marlins played the role of the Legion of Doom on Memorial Day.
But after a 5-3 defeat in which Florida stole seven bases, Met manager Bobby Valentine made it a point to spread the blame evenly among himself, Piazza and starter Al Leiter, who had problems keeping runners off the bases, even if he said he tried to keep them close once they were aboard.
“I could’ve pitched out more, we could’ve thrown over more, Al could’ve been quicker, Mike could’ve been quicker,” Valentine said. “It’s not a one-way street. There’s a lot of shared responsibility.”
The Marlins treated the basepaths like the Autobahn, speeding with impunity while ultimately putting Leiter (5-4) on the hook for four earned runs and eight hits over five innings.
The league leaders in stolen bases (now 65) swiped four bags and pulled off a double-steal during a three-run fifth that put them ahead 4-0 and allowed them to split a four-game set with the Mets (27-24), who fell into a first-place tie with Atlanta.
Leiter, who historically has a penchant for throwing over, said, “I didn’t feel like I did anything different today than I did in the last five years.”
Valentine and Piazza disagreed. The Met manager said, “He has a quick move. He didn’t use his quick move to home. He just kept using his big leg kick.”
Asked if Leiter threw over less than usual, Piazza responded, “There’s a fine line. You don’t want to become obsessed with the guys, but on the same note, there’s a happy medium to hold the guys on… For some reason, we just weren’t able to find it today.”
Leiter said he hasn’t used a “quick step” motion since 1997, but knows the rampant running was “unacceptable.”
“My next start I have to try something different,” said Leiter, who faces Florida again Sunday. “I have to give Mike a better shot.”
Even the Marlins were conflicted. Cliff Floyd, who stole once, said, “You can’t blame it all on Piazza. We were running on both of them.
“[Leiter] wasn’t pitching bad. He just wasn’t keeping guys at first base, and that cost him.”
Countered teammate Luis Castillo, who stole twice: “[Piazza]’s scared of this team, because this team can run.”
Piazza hasn’t thrown a runner out since April 6. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 29 consecutive runners have stolen safely with him behind the plate.
Piazza’s stats say he’s “caught” four baserunners in 43 attempts; he’s only actually thrown out two, and his last came when he nailed B.J. Surhoff on April 6.
Elias credits the catcher with a “caught” even if a pitcher essentially picks off a baserunner. Even by that loose standard, Piazza hasn’t seen a baserunner erased on his watch since April 16.
“Honestly, I felt like I threw the ball as well as I have in a long time,” said Piazza, who added that the Marlins had “very good jumps” and felt a couple of the bang-bang plays could’ve gone in his favor.
In the fifth, Mike Redmond led off with an RBI double and scored from third on a Castillo single up the middle through a drawn-in infield. After Andy Fox reached on an infield single, he and Castillo did a double steal.
Piazza’s throw to second sailed a bit into the baseline, and Fox inadvertently toppled Roberto Alomar. The ball squirted away, Castillo scampered home as Piazza was charged with a throwing error. Later, Fox stole third and scored on a Floyd RBI single.
In the sixth, Florida took a 5-0 lead off its final stolen base.
The Mets mounted a rally with single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth, capped by a 429-foot homer by Mo Vaughn off reliever Braden Looper. But Ryan Dempster (3-5) recorded the victory and Vladimir Nunez recorded his 12th save of the year before Florida ran out of town.