Mets Blow Game for Jeremy Hefner in 9th

Following that 15 inning snoozefest on Monday, the Mets needed two things on Tuesday — a long outing from starter Jeremy Hefner and a win. Well, they got one of them, as the Mets blew yet another ninth inning lead.

Neither of these two anemic offenses could put a run on the board until the fifth, when Daniel Murphy doubled, moved to third on a fly out and scored on an Anthony Recker sacrifice fly to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Meantime, Jeremy Hefner came through big time, throwing eight shutout innings. He had 99 pitches through eight innings, and Terry Collins let him go out to finish the job. Chris Coughlan led off the ninth with a single. He advanced to second on a passed ball by Recker. Juan Pierre bunted right in front of the plate. Recker threw to third to get the lead runner, but Coughlan was ruled safe. David Wright argued that Coughlan slide past the bag and he tagged him. The replay confirmed that, but the umpire was not inclined to change his mind. That was all for Hefner, who gave way to Brandon Lyon (Bobby Parnell pitched two innings on Monday) with runners on first and third with no outs. Donovan Solano singled to right to tie the game at one. Pierre stopped at third. Placido Polanco was intentionally walked to load the bases and create a force play at home. Greg Dobbs, who repeatedly killed the Mets during their first series this season, was the next batter. But he never got the chance because on the first pitch Lyon threw a wild pitch and Pierre scored to give the Marlins the win.

Mets lose 2-1. After that five and a half hour marathon last night, tonight’s game took just two and a half hours.

Jeremy Hefner, by the way, got the hard luck loss. He allowed just four hits and struck out a career high eight Marlins and walked none. It was the second straight solid start by Hefner — he went seven innings in his last outing, allowing one run. His ERA, which was 7.07 two starts ago, now stands at 4.34.