Mets Lose to Marlins in 10 Innings

The Mets won two games in their final at-bats this week. They tried for a third Saturday night but it was not to be — Mets lose in 10 innings to the Marlins.

Eric Young scored one of his Young Runs (patent pending) in the first. He led off the game with a single, stole second and went to third when the throw to second went into the outfield. David Wright hit a sacrifice fly to bring him home. Daniel Murphy followed with a single and then Bobby Abreu, starting because Chris Young wasn’t feeling well, hit his first home run as a Met into the seats in right field to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.

Casey McGehee led off the top of the second with a slow roller to second. It was hit off the end of his bat so it had crazy english on it. Murphy was unable to pick it up. It was scored a single but it should have been an error on Murphy. With one out Garrett Jones singled to put runners on first and second. Derek Dietrich singled to right to plate McGehee to make it 3-1. Jenrry Mejia got two strikeouts to get out of the inning.

The Mets extended the lead to 5-1 in the third when Lucas Duda singled home Curtis Granderson and Murphy, who had both gotten on base via walks.

It was only a matter of time until Giancarlo Stanton connected off Mets pitching, and he did in the sixth — an opposite field home run with a man on to cut the Mets lead to 5-3. And that was only the beginning of the trouble for Mejia. He then allowed a single and a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. Mejia finally got the first out when Duda caught a rocket off the bat of Garrett Jones. He got Dietrich on a fielder’s choice for the second out. But with runners on first and third, Adeiny Hechavarria singled to center to make it a 5-4 game. That was all for Mejia, who gave way to Carlos Torres. On Torres’s first pitch, pinch hitter Reed Johnson sliced a double into the corner in right to score two and give the Marlins a 6-5 lead.

So Mejia, who was cruising before the bottom fell out in the sixth, went 5.2 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. He struck out six and walked one.

But the Mets got him off the hook in the seventh. With two outs Travis d’Arnaud walked. On a stolen base attempt, Marlins catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia dropped the pitch. It went as a passed ball. Omar Quintanilla hit a grounder to deep short. Hechavarria’s throw sailed over the first baseman’s head and d’Arnaud came around to score to tie the game at six.

Daisuke Matsuzaka walked the lead off batter in the ninth. Christian Yelich sacrificed. Duda took his sweet time getting to the ball and throwing to first and Yelich was safe on a close play. However, Terry Collins challenged the call and it was overturned. So there was one out with the potential tie-breaking run on second. Marcell Ozuna walked on a 3-2 pitch (the 2-2 pitch should have been strike three, but the umpire missed a clear strike) to put runners on first and second with Stanton up. Stanton hit a slow grounder to short and Quintanilla just got him at first. McGehee came up with two outs and runners on second and third. Matsuzaka struck him out on a questionable pitch to keep the game tied.

Saltalamacchia led off the 10th against Kyle Farnsworth with a home run to left to give the Marlins a 7-6 lead.

The Mets beat up Marlins closer Steve Cishek Friday night in the 9th inning, and he was back out there tonight for the 10th. With one out Wright walked. Murphy struck out and was ejected for arguing the third strike call. Several players probably wanted to scream at rookie home plate umpire Seth Buckminster for his inconsistent strike zone. Abreu lined to short to end the game.

Mets lose 7-6 to snap their three-game winning streak.