Game #82: Diamondbacks 5, Mets 4 (15)

There were plenty of fireworks at Citi Field on the Fourth of July. Unfortunately for the home team, they ran out one inning too late.

The Diamondbacks retook the lead for the third consecutive inning in the 15th and the Mets couldn't put up a third miracle, falling in the series finale 5-4.

The Last Three Innings:

• Top of the 13th: New York's David Aardsma walks in Arizona's go-ahead run with the bases loaded, D-Backs lead 3-2.
• Bottom of the 13th: Anthony Recker hits a two-out solo home run off Heath Bell to tie the game at 3-3.
• Top of the 14th: Martin Prado singles in the go-ahead run against Brandon Lyon, D-Backs lead 4-3.
• Bottom of the 14th: Kirk Nieuwenhuis hits an opposite field home run off Chaz Roe that just clears the top of the fence, game tied 4-4.
• Top of the 15th: Cliff Pennington singles off Scott Rice, D-Backs lead 5-4.
• Bottom of the 15th: Mets get runners on second and third against Brad Ziegler with two out, but Nieuwenhuis grounds out to the first baseman to end the game. D-Backs win 5-4.

The Bad Stuff:

• The Mets managed just four runs off 10 hits, bat 1-13 with RISP, and strand 14 men on base.
• Eric Young and Daniel Murphy were helpless at the top of the order, going a combined 0-10.
• Multiple times David Wright had the chance to make Captain America the hero on the Fourth of July. Clearly, it didn't work out. Maybe the sequel will be better.

The Good Stuff:

• Dillon Gee engaged Ian Kennedy in a pitcher's duel and notched another quality start, allowing two runs on six hits in seven innings, walking two and striking out seven on 97 pitches.
• Carlos Torres got New York through a scoreless 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Final Analysis:
Even if it didn't turn out right for the boys, what a game it must have been to play in! Down and out multiple times, coming back from the dead multiple times, it must have been incredible, if not frustrating.

More props to Gee for establishing himself as a lock in the rotation. And Carlos Torres is emerging as a more-than-capable long man, meaning Jeremy Hefner is all but assured a rotation slot for at least the rest of the year.

The Mets now hit the road for their final trip before the All-Star Break. Their first stop is in Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in a series of games I will be attending. Thanks to Muskegon, Michigan for having a ferry that goes to Milwaukee.

MM

Game #24: Marlins 4, Mets 3 (15)

A long night was made much too long, and in the end it was New York that ended up on the long side.

The Mets blew leads in the 9th and 15th innings, falling to the Marlins in a sparsely-attended series opener, 4-3.

The Bad Stuff:

• Up 2-1 in the 9th, Bobby Parnell gave up a long leadoff double to Justin Ruggiano. Collin Cowgill misplayed a Rob Brantly single to send Ruggiano to third, and then he came home on a Nick Green sac fly, resulting in Parnell's second blown save in four opportunities.
• A long stalemate was broken in the 15th by a Ruben Tejada base hit, the Mets' first and only hit with runners in scoring position. The team went 1-18 in that particular category, stranding 14 men on base.
• Entering into his unusual second inning of relief work, Shaun Marcum got a quick first out of Placido Polanco. It was the last out he would get on the night. Greg Dobbs singled, Ruggiano walked, and the tying and winning runs came home on a Brantly single and a Green sac fly. Game, set, match.

The Good Stuff:

(NYDailyNews.com)

• While he ran his pitch count up early on, Matt Harvey was in line for his fifth W, allowing a run on seven hits in 5.1 innings, walking two and striking out seven on a career-high 121 pitches.
• John Buck blasted his ninth home run of the season into Miami's kitschy home run sculpture in the 4th inning. The RBIs were Buck's 24th and 25th of April.
• Justin Turner and Ruben Tejada each had three hits on the night.

Final Analysis:
The moral of the story: you can't win a game on productive outs. The Mets had far too many productive outs last night. It didn't work.

MM