Mets Finish Off Sweep of Marlins

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Final Score: New York Mets: 5 Miami Marlins: 1

Mets Finish Off Sweep of Marlins

With the 5-1 win Sunday afternoon, the Mets won their third straight series and seven of their last eight games.  They have moved to six games under .500 with a record of 64-70.  It was the first series sweep for the Mets since they took three straight from the Orioles June 18-20.  The Mets also swept the Marlins earlier in the season in April, but this is the first sweep on the road of the Marlins since 2007.  The Mets also improved their record in day games to 28-21 on the season.

Jason Bay enjoyed his best day of the season, going 2 for 4, driving in four runs thanks to a first inning grand slam.  The homerun was Bay’s first since August 16^th.

It was literally a month’s worth of production for Bay, who accumulated only one homerun and for RBI from August 3^rd through September 1st.

A key to the Mets recent success has been how well the bullpen has performed.  Saturday they had a 16 2/3 innings scoreless streak snapped, but got back to building a new one Sunday, as they threw four scoreless innings.  They have allowed one earned run in the past 22 2/3 innings.

The Mets bullpen has been a disaster all season, compiling a 15-25 record with a 4.83 ERA.  The Mets as a team are a disastrous 22-56 when a reliever allows a run.

A reason for the sweep this weekend against the Marlins was the Mets keeping Marlin slugger Giancarlo Stanton in check.  In the first two games of the series, Stanton went 2 for 8 with his only RBI coming on an infield hit.

That was a great success for Stanton compared to Sunday, as the Mets held Stanton hitless.  Stanton went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Sunday afternoon, as the Mets held the Marlins most dangerous power hitter more than in check for the weekend.

Manager Terry Collins gave some insight into the Mets plans coming down the stretch of the season.  Zach Lutz is expected to get a start sometime this week at one of the corner infield spots; he is also being considered for instructional ball this winter to learn a corner outfield spot to increase his value and playing potential in the majors next season.  Collins also said that Matt Harvey will make two or three more starts before being shut down and that Zach Wheeler’s season is done as they do not want to increase his inning total any more.  Jenrry Mejia is expected to make some starts for the major league club in September though Collins said.

Next up for the Mets is a three game series against St. Louis starting Monday.  Collin McHugh (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will return to the team to make the start Monday afternoon against Joe Kelly (4-6, 3.61 ERA).

Marlins Wipe the Floor with Mets

Wednesday, August 8^th, 2012

Final Score: Miami Marlins: 13 New York Mets: 0

Marlins Wipe Floor with Mets

It was an ugly night at Citi Field for the Mets as the Marlins jumped out early and often en route to a 13-0 beat down.  The Mets just cannot buy a win at home right now, losing their eighth straight game at Citi Field since the All-Star break and ninth overall.  The last win at home for the Mets came all the way back on July 7^th against the Chicago Cubs.  The current home losing streak is the longest for the Mets since 2004, Art Howe’s last season as manager.  The Mets now sit at 53-58, 15 games behind Washington in the NL East and 10.5 games behind Atlanta for the last wild card spot. 

Chris Young was hammered tonight coming off what was his best start of the season.  The Marlins jumped on Young early and often, teeing off on him, including three homeruns.  The third homerun is what chased him from the game. 

Jose Reyes launched his eighth homerun of the season in the first inning to get the scoring started for the Marlins.  Giancarlo Stanton would hit the next two off Young, a two run shot in the first inning and another two run shot in the fifth inning. 

Young lasted only 4 1/3 innings in the game, unable to build off his strong performance in San Francisco last week.  He finished the game with totals of seven hits, seven runs, three walks and four strikeouts. 

The Marlins did not stay quite for long, as they put up another four spot in the eighth inning and a two spot in the ninth.  Lefty Garrett Olson was making his Mets debut and fit in perfectly with the bullpen giving up four earned runs in 1/3 inning. 

Closer Frank Francisco came in for the ninth inning to get some work in and continued the woeful pitching surrendering a two-run homerun to Greg Dobbs.

The Mets were able to only muster five hits off the Marlins pitching staff.  They were not without opportunities to score though, as the Marlins walked six Mets, giving them opportunities to make things happen; the Mets just were unable to take advantage.

One positive for the Mets was that Ruben Tejada continued his hitting streak with a single in the third inning, putting the streak at 13 games.  Reyes also continued his streak for the Marlins, getting his up to 26 games.  The 26 game hitting streak for Reyes is a career high for him and a high in the majors this season. 

Next up is the finale of the three game series in a Thursday matinee at 12:10 P.M. ET.  R.A. Dickey (14-3, 2.82 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets as they try to salvage the last game of the series against the Marlins’ Josh Johnson (7-7 3.85 ERA).