Marlins 9 Mets 8
MIAMI – On Friday the Mets spoke about the uplifting feeling of coming back from a seven-run deficit to beat the Braves. Yesterday, they got a chance to feel like the Braves.
Although it wasn’t as monumental as Friday’s 10-run eighth, yesterday’s game was disheartening for the Mets, losing 9-8 to the Marlins. It was the Mets’ third straight loss and the second time this season they have blown a 5-0 lead.
Jersey Bobby Jones, the local lefty from East Rutherford, made his debut as a Met starter and it didn’t turn out as he would’ve liked. After blowing the 5-0 lead, he couldn’t retire anyone in the fifth. His final line was ugly – six hits, seven runs, six earned in four innings and he took the loss.
The Mets staked him to the 5-0 lead thanks in part to a three-run homer by Derek Bell in the fourth. When they trailed 9-5 in the sixth, Todd Zeile, who didn’t start yesterday, socked a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 9-7. In the ninth, Edgardo Alfonzo, snubbed as an NL All-Star starter by the voter, homered on an 0-1 pitch into the left-field seats to make it 9-8.
After Alfonzo’s hoemer, the Mets put on two runners in the ninth off Antonio Alfonseca. Jay Payton reached ont an infield single and moved to second when he beat out a throw from Mike Lowell on pinch hitter Mike Piazza’s grounder to third. But Todd Pratt and Melvin Mora struck out as Alfonseca notched his 26th save.
The Marlins are a spunky team, which has won five straight. They play in front of small crowds, but they are an exciting third-place team. The crowd yesterday was 24,935, many of whom were Met fans.
Jones gave back the lead after the Mets scored five runs in the first four innings off Marlins’ wild starter Brad Penny. Although Jones received little help from his defense, the scrappy Marlins hit him hard.
For the first three innings, it looked as if Jones would mimic righty Bobby Jones, who pitched six scoreless Monday night. Jones put zeroes on the board in the first three innings. But then, unfortunately, came the fourth and the fifth, which he never escaped.
In the fourth, Jones retired the first two batters before walking Lowell and Derrek Lee. This brought out pitching coach Dave Wallace , who has said the aspect of Jones’ game that needs improve is sometimes he gets too emotional.
Wallace’s attempt to calm him down didn’t work. First, Jones fell behind 2-0 to Alex Gonzalez, who came in yesterday hitting .175 with three homers and 23 RBIs. Then Gonzalez launched a three-run homer to cut the Mets lead to 5-3.
In the fifth Jones walked pinch hitter Mark Smith and gave up a single to Luis Castillo before Mark Kotsay doubled off the left-field wall to tie the game.
Bobby Valentine stayed with Jones, but he lasted just one more batter. Cliff Floyd hit a slow roller to Robin Ventura and beat it out for an infield single. With runners on first and third, Wallace came out again and brought in Pat Mahomes.
On Mahomes’ first pitch, Floyd attempted to steal second and Pratt threw a one-bouncer past Edgardo Alfonzo. Shortstop Melvin Mora backed up, but couldn’t get the ball out of his glove. This allowed Kotsay to score the Marlins’ sixth run of the game.
After Mahomes sandwiched two walks (one intentional) around a Lowell flyout, he struck out Gonzalez. Next, he got Mike Redmond to groundout to short, but Mora couldn’t cleanly field the ball and another run scored.
Smith, batting for the second time in the inning as a pinch-hitter, added a two-run single to left to put the Marlins up 9-5. Smith was thrown on the play in a rundown.
The Mets started out strong. After Penny walked the first two batters, Alfonzo punched an RBI single off the left-field wall but was thrown at second base.
In the fourth, Bell ripped his 11th homer, a three-run shot, on a 3-2 fastball from Penny. It put the Mets up 5-0.