Very little was impressive for the Mets last night other than Jeremy Hefner.
After a terrific first two regular-season games, the Mets’ performance has gone south over their last two.
With a home game against arguably the National League’s worst team, the Mets fell into a six-run hole and lost to the horrid Marlins, 7-5. They’re now 2-2 after a 2-0 start, and last night their offense, defense, baserunning, bullpen and decision-making were all culpable.
Offensively, the Mets ended up scoring five runs, but all of them came against Miami’s bullpen, after the Marlins stormed to a 6-0 lead. The Mets were shut out by the Marlins’ fourth starter, righty Alex Sanabia, who blanked them on five hits over six innings.
The offense went 4-for-18 with men on base and 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, stranding 12.
The defense wasn’t much better. Ruben Tejada committed an error — his third of the season — and John Buck had a passed ball. Both came during the Marlins’ five-run seventh inning. Later, Tejada dropped a throw to second base on a steal.
Jordany Valdespin was picked off first base — with David Wright at the plate. The bullpen surrendered six runs in three innings (albeit only three earned) and reliever Greg Burke made an ill-advised decision to try for a force at third on a bunt, resulting in all the runners being safe.
“We should have gone to first,” manager Terry Collins said.
Hefner was strong over six innings, surrendering only one run on five hits. The Mets’ rotation has been stellar, posting a 1.38 ERA through four games, as Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey, Dillon Gee and Hefner have all sparkled.
“The encouraging part is I feel like each one can even improve,” Buck said.
After pounding out 19 runs in the first two games, the lineup has looked shaky. There’s little speed and energy to manufacture runs. There’s power potential, and Wright is a terrific hitter. But overall, the offense needs to be more threatening.
“We’ve got to have a lineup that’s more than one or two guys, for sure,” Collins said.
Trailing 6-0, Daniel Murphy blasted a three-run homer in the seventh off Chad Qualls, trimming the deficit to 6-3. Down 7-3 in the ninth, the Mets added two more runs on RBI hits from Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda.
Ike Davis, in particular, is off to a tough start. After going 0-for-4 with a walk last night, Davis is 1-for-16 with seven strikeouts through four games. His one hit was a homer, but since Davis endured a brutal start last season, Collins admitted there’s a need to be cognizant the first baseman doesn’t get discouraged and say, “Here we go again.”
“As a matter of fact, it was addressed [Thursday] a little bit,” Collins said before the game, noting Davis took extra batting practice. “He’s not satisfied with the way he’s started and he’s trying to do something about it.”
In getting swept by the Nationals in their opening series, the Marlins produced a total of one run. Last night, the Mets gave them seven.