MIAMI – The Mets needed to make an early comeback to get their critical win last night. But they also had to have Scott Schoeneweis’ late-game save.
Trailing by three runs after two innings, the Mets – who have blown a bunch of leads lately – returned fire. They tied the Marlins with three runs in the third, took the lead with three more in the fourth and capped it with two more in the fifth. They put up eight unanswered runs en route to a critical 9-6 win in a game that featured a 2 hour, 21-minute rain delay.
Despite having a 9-4 lead in the eighth, Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith allowed the edge to slip to 9-6 and have the Marlins bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, as another catastrophe loomed. That’s when Schoeneweis came to the rescue.
“We’re not afraid to add a little drama to it,” Carlos Delgado said.
Schoeneweis wasn’t afraid to end it. The lefty reliever entered and struck out Jeremy Hermida to end the threat, then did even more impressive work in the ninth. With Billy Wagner was unavailable for the second straight game due to back spasms, Schoeneweis also closed out the ninth, striking out two for his first save of the season.
The Phillies won last night, so the Mets NL East lead remains at 1½ games. The Mets have nine games to play, and their magic number’s down to eight.
Unfortunately, the question is how many Carlos Beltran will be able to play. The star center fielder hurt his knees while chasing down a fifth-inning double. Beltran left after it happened and said he aggravated tendinitis in both knees. He said he’s up for “whatever it takes” to play today.
With Orlando Hernandez, Wagner and Beltran ailing, the Mets have health issues with perhaps their best starter, reliever and all-around player.
But they did get a win from Pedro Martinez, who remains unbeaten in his comeback. Martinez (3-0) didn’t pitch a great game, but he picked up the victory, allowing four runs (three earned) in five innings. H
“Every start that he’s made has been a game that we’ve had to win,” Wagner said before Martinez’ fourth start of the season.
Martinez allowed a run in the first, then found himself down 3-0 in the second when he gave up two more on two hits, an error and a sac fly.
In an interesting revelation yesterday on WFAN, Delgado – who returned last night after a 14-game absence and blasted a solo homer – said what he’s seen during his absence recently was that “I think at times we can get a little careless. We’ve got so much talent I think sometimes we get bored.”
With the Mets down 3-0 through two innings, with an error contributing to the deficit, it particularly seemed to be the case.
But in the third, the Mets got going, with Florida helping them out. With Luis Castillo on first and two outs, the Marlins committed two errors and also had a passed ball, all of which cut the lead to 3-2. Moises Alou’s RBI single then tied it at 3-3.
Martinez worked out of a bases-loaded one-out jam in the bottom of the inning, and in the fourth, the Mets took the lead on Castillo’s RBI single and Beltran’s two-run single. It became 8-3 in the fifth when Jose Reyes delivered a two-run single.