MIAMI — Those hopeful days of late spring, when the Mets received one quality performance after another from their starting rotation, are long gone.
Mike Pelfrey is the ringleader of Pitchers Gone Wild — South Beach edition — but Chris Capuano can take a seat next to him. And it might be wise for Dillon Gee to consider pitching around Gaby Sanchez today.
Sanchez, the Marlins first baseman, blasted two home runs last night — giving him three over two games in this series — sending the Mets to an 8-5 loss at Sun Life Stadium.
“We’ve got to get back in a groove and back to getting our starting pitching to keep us in games,” manager Terry Collins said after the Mets fell to 4-5 since the All-Star break.
The Mets (50-50) missed an opportunity to gain ground in the wild-card race, and remain 8½ games behind Atlanta on that count. Carlos Beltran walked three times and delivered an RBI single, further illustrating that he can be a valuable addition to a trade suitor such as the Braves, Phillies, Giants, Rangers or Red Sox in the coming days.
Sanchez blew the game open with his second homer of the night, a two-run shot against D.J. Carrasco in the seventh. David Wright’s throwing error earlier in the inning had allowed Emilio Bonifacio to score, giving the Marlins a 5-3 lead.
“[Sanchez] has got our number — something crazy,” said catcher Josh Thole, referring to Sanchez’s .383 career batting average against the Mets with six homers and 22 RBIs in 99 at-bats. “He’s a good mistake hitter. That’s what he does and what he is going to do for a long time.”
Capuano (8-10) gave the Mets a second straight lackluster start by allowing four earned runs on six hits and three walks over six innings. The lefty had allowed four earned runs over 7 2/3 innings in the Mets’ loss to the Marlins on Monday at Citi Field.
In nine games since the All-Star break, the Mets have received just two strong performances from starting pitchers: Gee allowed two earned runs over seven innings to beat the Cardinals on Tuesday after Jon Niese handled the Phillies three days earlier.
Capuano’s night came unraveled in the sixth, when he allowed four runs to put the Mets in a 4-2 hole. Sanchez’s two-run homer put the Marlins ahead before Logan Morrison hit a solo blast three batters later. Bonifacio’s infield single — extending his hitting streak to 22 games — started the rally before Omar Infante delivered an RBI triple.
Pitching coach Dan Warthen then visited the mound, and barely had reached the dugout when Sanchez’s shot cleared the left-field fence.
“It all comes down to execution,” Capuano said. “It’s just a couple of pitches that didn’t quite get where I wanted them to go.”
Warthen said he expects more from the veteran lefty.
“We can’t stop the bleeding a lot of times, which is unfortunate” Warthen said. “With Niese and Gee, it’s youth and you understand. But [Capuano] is better than that.”
Wright’s offensive production continued, a night after he doubled home the go-ahead run in the Mets’ 7-6 series-opening victory. Wright’s two-run single against Clay Hensley in the fifth inning last night broke a scoreless tie and gave Wright four RBIs in two games since returning from the disabled list with a stress fracture in his lower back.
The Mets made noise in the ninth by receiving consecutive homers from Lucas Duda and Jose Reyes against Leo Nunez, but it was too late.