Game #84: Brewers 7, Mets 6

In a game Shaun Marcum stayed in way too long, he delivered what turned out to be New York's death knell in his old home of Milwaukee.

Marcum made a crucial error on a sac bunt in the 6th that gave the Brewers a gift run that became the decider in the Mets' 7-6 loss.

The Bad Stuff:

• Shaun Marcum continues to be the black sheep in an otherwise set Mets rotation. Today he allowed six runs (five earned, but the unearned was also on him) on a whopping 11 hits in five-plus innings, walking one and striking out three on a surprisingly low 83 pitches. His exit came in the 6th inning when, after a Logan Schafer single, Marcum threw Yovani Gallardo's sac bunt wide, and Daniel Murphy's missed catch allowed Schafer to score. That made it 6-4, and without that run perhaps the Mets would have gone to extra innings once again.
• New York missed a golden opportunity in the top of the 7th when they loaded the bases with one out. Marlon Byrd plated one run on a sac fly, but Kirk Nieuwenhuis's line drive went right to Schafer in left to end the threat.
• In the 8th, the Mets got two runners on with two out for Daniel Murphy, whose hit also died in the glove of Schafer.

The Good Stuff:

Marlon Stretches/Waves (Photo by Me)

• John Buck broke the ice with a solo home run in the 5th inning and pounded a two-run single in the 6th to bring the team within one, finishing the day 2-3 with 3 RBIs.
• After going 0-6 last night, Daniel Murphy rebounded in the form of 3-5 with his 20th double and 34th RBI.
• After seeing another long fly snuffed out just before the fence, Marlon Byrd finally got his homer off ex-Met Francisco Rodriguez in the 9th, making a 7-5 game 7-6 and breaking up K-Rod's three strikeouts in the inning (hey, all we wanted was for him to pitch like he did in NY, and we got our wish).
• Ike Davis didn't get a hit but walked three times, in the process becoming the most-respected .170 hitter in the history of baseball.
• Davis and Omar Quintanilla picked up their first stolen bases of the season; Eric Young's 12th gave the Mets three on the night.
• Before the game, David Wright was announced as the NL's starting third baseman in the All-Star Game, and Matt Harvey was named to the team as well; Bruce Bochy should name the starter next week.

Final Analysis:
After falling behind 5-0, it was nice to see the Mets never giving up and almost closing the gap on multiple occasions. Unfortunately for them, every time they had the Brewers in their clutch, the Milwaukeeans slipped away their very next chance.

Shaun Marcum earned the loss that gives him 10 for the season, and Terry Collins left him out much longer than he should have. While it might have been understandable to have him bat in the 5th inning (successful sac bunt), sending him up with two out and a runner on in the 6th was not a wise move at all.

Last word of the night: before coming to tonight's game, I killed time by taking in a Broadway show: I saw Wicked at Milwaukee's Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. After that spectacular three hours, baseball had a lot to live up to. It didn't live up to it today.

MM