The Mets lost their fifth straight game as the Marlins finished off a four-game sweep. Jon Niese started the game and wasn’t very sharp for the second start in a row. He left the game due to injury after fielding a ground ball. It looked like it might have been the same hamstring that ruined his season last year. He ended up throwing two innings and giving up two ER (earned runs).
Hisanori Takahashi relived Niese and went three IP, which precludes him from taking Oliver Perez‘s spot in the rotation. The Mets will have to dip into Triple-A Buffalo to replace Perez.
Fernando Nieve got rocked in the seventh inning for three ER on two hits a walk. His ERA is up to 4.64 as he’s cooled off quite a bit from his hot start in the bullpen.
The defense was pretty sloppy in this one too. David Wright and Niese both had errors. But Wright had several plays that he didn’t make at third that were scored as hits by the Florida scorekeeper.
The Mets did have 12 hits and four walks in the game. The lineup featured Chris Carter hitting cleanup and playing right field. Jeff Francoeur got a “mental health” day off but he did end up pinch hitting. The big shock is that Gary Matthews, Jr. went into right field and went 2-for-2 with his first RBI of the year.
The Mets head to Atlanta for a two-game series starting tomorrow night.
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