Game #100: Marlins 8, Mets 5

Chris Capuano pitches for the Mets during a game against the Marlins on Saturday in Miami. (NYTimes.com)

New York got the ball rolling in the 5th inning...it proceeded to drop dead in the 6th.

Gaby Sanchez hammered two 2-run homers as the Marlins sunk the Mets 8-5.

The Bad Stuff:

• Chris Capuano was cruising through the first 5, holding Florida scoreless. The wheels came off in the 6th: Emilio Benifacio singled, Omar Infante tripled, Sanchez hit his first 2-run blast, and three batters later Logan Morrison gave the outfield fans another souvenir. Before, Mets lead 2-0. After, Mets down 4-2. There would be no comebacks tonight.
• In the 7th, with DJ Carrasco acting as agent, the Fish added an insurance plan: one run scored on a throwing error by David Wright (though it was really Daniel Murphy's fault at first, the SNY team pointed out), and Sanchez followed with another twin dinger. One more came in in the 8th off Ryota Igarashi to make it 8-3.
• Except for what happened in the 9th (see below), the 5-9 hitters for New York combined to go 0-19 without a single walk.

The Good Stuff:

• After 4 quiet innings, the Met offense came alive with 2 outs in the 5th. Jose Reyes legged out an infield single and stole second. After walks to Justin Turner and Carlos Beltran (one of Beltran's 3 BBs on the day), Wright came up and singled to left to score 2. David has 4 RBIs in his first two games back from the DL.
• In the 7th New York added another after three straight singles from Reyes, Turner, and Beltran.
• By the 9th the game was out of reach, but the Amazin's at least made it interesting. Lucas Duda, pinch-hitting in the 9-spot, cracked a towering shot into right for his first home run of the 2011 campaign. It was a long time coming for Duda, but he got that particular monkey off his back. He didn't have that much time to celebrate it, though: on the very next pitch from Leo Nunez, Reyes did his best Duda impression, launching it into right for his 4th four-base hit of the year. This is as far as New York would get, but they at least forced the Marlins to make great defensive plays on the final 3 outs.

Final Analysis:
Half the game had been going so well, unfortunately pitching didn't have it in the latter innings. But that exciting 9th provides at least some smiles, even if the night ended without the W. There's always tomorrow.

After this 100th game, the New York Mets are right where they began the season at: dead even. All things considered, it's been a fun first hundred. Here's hoping the final 62 will be just as fun.

MM