MIAMI — This one can simply be dubbed “Fiasco at the Fish Factory.”
Jon Niese gave the Mets seven scoreless innings Monday night against the Marlins only to watch his bullpen — with a little help from Omar Quintanilla — toss his masterpiece into Biscayne Bay.
Casey McGehee’s RBI single off Gonzalez Germen’s leg in the ninth inning handed the Mets a 4-3 loss at Marlins Park for a second walk-off defeat in three days.
Christian Yelich singled leading off the ninth against Scott Rice. After a sacrifice bunt and intentional walk to Giancarlo Stanton, the Mets lost it on McGehee’s single off Germen. It came two days after Rockies pinch-hitter Charlie Culberson hit a two-run, game-ending homer against Kyle Farnsworth at Coors Field.
Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed three runs in the eighth on Monday, but he wasn’t the only goat: Quintanilla misplayed a soft liner off McGehee’s bat for an error, allowing the Marlins to score their second run.
“That’s the second time on this trip we had a chance to get out of an inning and we didn’t catch a ball and it hurt us,” manager Terry Collins said.
The other instance came in the fifth inning on Saturday, when the Mets failed to turn a potential double play, helping the Rockies surge to a big inning against Jenrry Mejia.
Quintanilla said McGehee’s line drive “knuckled” on him.
“I take the blame for it,” Quintanilla said. “I still should have caught it. That was a big play and it changed the game, and I can’t think about it anymore.”
The eighth inning could have been worse for the Mets, but with the game tied 3-3, Farnsworth entered and retired Jeff Baker on a grounder to a drawn-in Daniel Murphy before intentionally walking pinch hitter Garrett Jones to load the bases. Adeiny Hechavarria was called out on strikes before Farnsworth retired Marcell Ozuna to escape.
Matsuzaka walked the first two batters he faced in the eighth before Stanton clobbered a single to center for the Marlins’ first run. Jarrod Saltalamacchia stroked an RBI double to right-center off Matsuzaka to tie the game after Quintanilla’s error.
“I couldn’t control my body today,” Matsuzaka said. “I really regret taking away Niese’s win and the team win.”
The Mets put the go-ahead run on base in the ninth when Lucas Duda walked against Steve Cishek. But Travis d’Arnaud was called out on strikes and Duda got nailed attempting to steal second in a strikeout-throwout double play to end the inning.
Niese pitched seven shutout innings in which he allowed five hits, struck out six and walked one. The lefty, who had allowed one run in each of his previous three starts, lowered his ERA to 1.82. Coupled with Dillon Gee’s performance against the Rockies a day earlier, Mets starting pitchers have a 13-inning scoreless streak.
Niese had no qualms with leaving after seven innings.
“It’s 108 pitches,” he said. “I figured our bullpen has been doing great, so it’s the right move.”
The Mets led 3-0 after four innings against Nathan Eovaldi and then had their bats go silent. Wright’s leadoff double in the fourth and Curtis Granderson’s ensuing single put runners on the corners for Bobby Abreu, whose sacrifice fly gave the Mets a three-run lead.
Murphy and Granderson each hit solo homers in the first inning, giving Niese a two-run lead before he took the mound.
Granderson’s blast was his third of the season and second in four games. The veteran outfielder finished 2-for-4 and is batting .391 over his last six games as his average continues to climb after a horrendous start.
“The tough part was we didn’t have very many opportunities outside of the first inning,” Collins said. “Eovaldi pitched very well, also.
“[The Marlins] can be real tough and when you don’t add on, you know you’re in trouble unless you really pitch.”