Everything is seemingly going wrong for the Mets these days. They’re making fundamental errors, not pitching well, and not getting clutch hits. Now, though, it’s getting pretty serious.
After already losing a starter due to ineffectiveness, they’ve lost another due to injury. Jon Niese, who already came back this season after a gruesome injury last season, hurt himself again in the middle of a disastrous third inning for the Mets.
The inning started off with a Cody Ross infield hit, beating out a grounder to third base. Two batters later, the pitcher Ricky Nolasco bunted back to Niese who threw to third. David Wright, perhaps thinking of getting two outs, muffed the easy catch allowing the bases to be loaded with no outs.
Cameron Maybin followed with a two-run single. Following that, Gaby Sanchez hit a comebacker to Niese, who threw the ball down the right field line. During the next at-bat to Hanley Ramirez, Niese re- aggravated his right hamstring one pitch in to the at-bat. In the previous half-inning, Niese may have injured himself sliding back in to first base when he got doubled off to end the inning.
The Marlins went on to score six runs in the third inning and put the Mets in fight back mode which they did. Trailing 7-0 in the sixth, the Mets scored three runs with two outs. Alex Cora and Jason bay singled, and Chris Carter singled in a run. David Wright then doubled in two more to right field to cut the deficit to 7-3.
They would score three more in the seventh. Pagan led off with a walk. Henry Blanco and Gary Matthews Jr. singled to load the bases with no outs. After Reyes brought in a run with a groundout, Alex Cora doubled in two, cutting the lead to 7-6.
In the Marlins seventh though, is where they put the Mets away. Fernando Nieve allowed a pinch-hit three-run home run to Chris Coghlan, putting the Marlins up 10-6. The Mets would score a run each in the eighth and ninth but lose the game 10-8.
For the Mets, things can’t be worse right now. They’re hitting when they trail big, and their pitching is really hurting them. The Mets for the first time ever, got swept a four-game series in Florida. With the Braves winning, the Mets enter tomorrow’s series in Atlanta in last place in the NL East.
They now need to fill in Wednesday and Friday’s rotation spots. After the game it was announced that Omar Minaya was making an unscheduled trip to Atlanta for tomorrow night’s game. Bottom line is, things are only getting worse right now.
Next series probable pitchers:
May 17
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 4-1, 3.14 ERA) vs. Atlanta: Derek Lowe (2010: 5-3, 5.73 ERA)
May 18
New York: Johan Santana (2010: 3-2, 3.88 ERA) vs. Atlanta: Kris Medlen (2010: 1-1, 2.35 ERA)
Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
May 17-18 @ Atlanta Braves
May 19-20 @ Washington Nationals
Atlanta Braves:
May 17-18 vs. New York Mets
May 19-20 vs. Cincinnati Reds
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