Game #52: Marlins 5, Mets 1

And just like that, the momentum is gone, drowned in a fish tank in front of 15,493 Floridians.

Ed Lucas broke the scoreless tie and opened the floodgates against Shaun Marcum as the Mets' five-game winning streak was snapped 5-1 against the Marlins.

The Bad Stuff:

• For six innings, Shaun Marcum was brilliant and was looking to continue New York's recent string of quality starts. Then came the 7th, when Miami scored four runs on four hits, a walk, and a sac fly. Marcum's final line went from nearly spotless to very much spotful: 6.2 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts. A 5th-inning intentional walk to Greg Dobbs also broke a streak of 121 batters faced without a walk by Mets starters.
• Meanwhile, the once-potent New York offense returned to its familiar impotence against Miami's Jacob Turner, who tossed seven scoreless, five-hit innings in his first start of the season.
• David Wright's cold spell continued as he went 0-4 with two strikeouts to drop his average down to .283.

The Good Stuff:

• Daniel Murphy picked up Wright's slack by going 2-4 with an RBI double to score the Mets' only run of the game.
• Omar Quintanilla got two hits and scored in his second game filling in for the injured Ruben Tejada, and his first in the leadoff slot.
• Ike Davis had himself a double in the top of the 5th, and he would have had an RBI if Marlon Byrd had not been picked off trying to steal second base one pitch earlier.

Final Analysis:
How is it that after sweeping the almighty New York Yankees, adding that to a come-from-behind win over the division-leading Atlanta Braves, the Mets end up losing to the historically bad Miami Marlins? I guess that's the way it falls for a team that frankly isn't going anywhere this year. This game brought us back down to earth in time for the end of the month.

The good thing is that while 22-30 is far from great, at least it's not 14-41. Also, for every game the Marlins actually win, the farther they get from losing 120 games like the '62 Mets. Yes, in some twisted way, I don't want the Marlins to have a worse record than our Lovable Losers. They make me feel special. And if you're reading this blog, you know what I'm talking about.

MM