Marlins sweep Mets in doubleheader (8/25/20)

The Mets returned to action after five days off due to the positive Covid tests and quickly showed that nothing has changed offensively. They were shut out of both games, went 0-15 with Runners In Scoring Position and left 19 on base for the two seven inning games that showed them to be both unfocused and lacking in fundamentals – but these are the Mets, what else is new?

Rick Porcello was making his first start in ten days for the Mets in Game 1 and he started off with a bang striking out the first two hitters in a spotless first inning. However, the Mets quickly showed what we have seen many times this year as no one has declined a chance at prosperity as often as the Mets. In the bottom of the first, one out singles by J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto brought Pete Alonso to the plate. However, before Alonso can ground out to end the inning, Davis got picked off second base.

Possibly buoyed by the way the inning went, the Marlins came out hammering in the second inning. Brian Anderson led off with a one bounce double off the left field wall.  After Jorge Alfaro got hit by a pitch an out later, Porcello got a pop up for the second out. But as we have seen him do, he loses location and grooves a pitch, and Lewis Brinson smoked a one hopper through the infield into left center field. Porcello could have gotten out of the inning had he received the support of a solid MLB fielding shortstop, but Amed Rosario’s nightmare season continued as he didn’t even flinch until the ball was passed the mound. He didn’t get any read off the bat and although the ball was a step and a half away, he couldn’t even knock it down. Dominic Smith ran into left center to cut the ball off, but then inexplicably threw across his body to third base trying get the lead runner. The weak throw to the wrong base allowed Brinson to get to second base. The next hitter, of course, singled and two more runs came in.

The final run for the game for the Marlins came in the third inning on a two out double by Anderson and a clutch single by the next hitter Lewin Diaz that although Conforto charged well, his throw wasn’t able to get Anderson scoring.

Meanwhile, our heroes were leaving a small village on the bases, stranding men in scoring position for each of the first four innings and wasting nine base runners in just the first 5 innings, not counting the picked off Davis in the first inning.

A silver lining to this game where the Mets went 0-10 with RISP in seven innings was Corey Oswalt’s pitching, giving up just a hit and a walk in four scoreless innings.

Onto Game 2. Seth Lugo got his first start in over two years and was sharp. Nine up and nine down with five strikeouts through his three innings of work. Meanwhile, a top prospect for the Marlins, left hander Trevor Rogers, was pumping also. He struck out two in the first inning using 96 MPH high fastballs and two more in the second, including the offensively challenged Ali Sanchez with the bases loaded and two outs. 

After the Mets did nothing in their half of the third, they had first and third on base and one out in the fourth inning, but Luis Guillorme became the second out and strikeout victim #6 on a beautifully painted fastball on the outside black that may have been outside on the overhead camera shot. Nonetheless, after a Sanchez fly out, the Mets were still looking for a run in this scoreless game.

As the Marlins were the designated home team in a makeup of their postponed game last Thursday, they came to bat in the bottom of the fourth and roughed up Jared Hughes, who took over for Lugo. With men on the corners and one out, Anderson pulled a double down the third base line scoring both runners. It was Anderson’s third double of the night.

Moving to the sixth, we see more bad base running by the Mets. After a leadoff “single” put Dominic Smith on first base on an easy grounder that was muffed by Logan Forsythe, Robinson Cano pinch hit for Rosario and singled. As the tying run, Cano was lifted for a pinch runner and old friend Juan Lagares – making his return to the Mets – went to first base. The next batter Guillorme hit a liner to the first baseman playing back, but Lagares rather than making his first move back to the first base bag as you should on a liner to the right side, made an initial move towards second base. That allowed the Marlins first baseman Lewin Diaz to catch the ball and beat Lagares to the bag for an inning ending double play.

In the Marlins’ half of the sixth, we witnessed quite possibly the next tormentor of the Mets as they seem to be outsmarted by smart base runners, the way Trea Turner does them and Javy Baez has done too. With Jeurys Familia pitching, Jon Berti walked to lead off. Berti quickly stole second base on Ali Sanchez who is known for his thwarting of base stealers. Then, with JD Davis playing too far away from third base, Berti caught the Mets napping and stole third on a delayed steal, running after the pitch crossed the plate. Later, with two outs and Davis still not learning his lesson (playing too far back and not paying any attention to him) Berti got a good walking lead off third base and as Ali Sanchez kept lobbing throws back to Familia the way I lob them to my four year old nephew, Berti timed it well and took off! Problem is, as he was approaching the plate, Berti stumbled and almost fell to the ground. But fear not young Marlin, these are the Mets. Familia caught the lob and quickly spiked a low throw back to Sanchez, who reached down to catch it and… dropped the ball. The Marlins were cracking up, and the Mets embarrassed themselves in many ways after not playing in five days.