Despite a strong outing from starter Marcus Stroman, the Mets fell to the Miami Marlins by a score of 4-2 on Friday afternoon.
Pete Alonso rendered another strong performance, reaching base twice and knocking in a run, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a late-game Marlins’ rally in the seventh that put them over the top.
Pitching
Right-hander Marcus Stroman took the mound for his third start of the Spring, looking to recover from a start last week in which he gave up two earned runs in just three innings of work.
Stroman allowed a base hit to Marlins’ leadoff man Starling Marte to begin the first, and a quick stolen base subsequently placed a runner in scoring position with no outs. After managing a quick first out, Stroman left an 0-1 pitch over the inside half of the zone, and power-bat Jesus Aguilar took advantage, striking it on a line into left-center field for a base hit and an RBI.
Stroman struck out the remaining two batters in the inning, and settled in after his early game unrest, successfully working through the second and third before being taken out midway through the fourth. His final line sat at 3.1 IP, four hits allowed, one earned run, one walk, and four strikeouts.
Replacing him in the fourth was the lefty Aaron Loup, whom the Mets signed as a free agent earlier this offseason. Loup finished off the fourth swiftly, striking out Adam Duvall before getting Jazz Chisholm to ground into a force out.
Dellin Betances took over in the fifth, and to the surprise of many Mets’ fans, looked very good. Aside from a Starling Marte walk, Betances retired his opponents, even punching out Miguel Rojas on a swinging foul tip.
The sixth was when things began to fall apart, but not in the usual Mets way. In fact, Trevor May, who found himself quickly in a hole with the bases loaded and nobody out, kept his composure in a tough situation. He made a nice pitch to force Duvall to ground into a double play, which scored a run but resulted in two quick outs. Then he locked up Chisholm and got him to ground out to end the frame with very limited damage.
Tommy Hunter was the one Mets’ pitcher who appeared to be off his game this afternoon. The right-hander walked Sandy Leon to open the seventh, and then left a 3-2 pitch over the inside half of the plate that allowed Monte Harrison to double down the left-field line, scoring a run. Then, with two outs in the inning, he gave up an RBI single to Joe Dunand that scored the Marlins’ fourth run of the game.
Joey Lucchesi took the bump in the eighth, and found himself quickly in trouble, walking Demetrius Sims before throwing the ball away on a pickoff attempt to first, putting a runner on third base with nobody out. He made a nice pitch to Jerar Encarnacion to force a ground ball to shortstop, where Wilfredo Tovar made a heads up play to gun the runner at home plate. After a wild pitch put a man on second with one gone, Lucchesi settled down, and retired the next two batters to get out of the inning. He continued into the ninth, and retired his opponents 1-2-3 on the back of two punch outs.
Offense
Brandon Nimmo got another start on Friday, and continued his hot Spring with another leadoff hit, this time a ground rule double to left field. He was left stranded, however, as Marlins’ starter Pablo Lopez retired his next three batters.
Jonathan led off the second with a base hit, further cementing his potential role as a weapon on the Mets’ bench, but a Brandon Drury double play and a Luis Guillorme ground out quickly neutralized any threat. The third inning began very similar to the first and second, with a quick leadoff hit from Jose Peraza. However, the same story continued to repeat itself, and the Mets just couldn’t seem to capitalize.
New York finally pulled through in the fourth, as Pete Alonso began a rally with one out by taking a pitch off his wrist pad to put himself on first base. After advancing to second, Drury drove the Polar Bear home with a single to center, tying the game at one-a-piece.
After a scoreless fifth, the Mets got back to work on the sixth; Mallex Smith singled and then advanced to third base off a steal and subsequent error. There was no question he was scoring when Alonso came up and rocketed a ball to right-center field for a double, evening the game once again at two.
Still, Alonso’s heroics were not enough to overcome the lead that the Marlins built late in the game; scoreless seventh, eighth, and ninth frames finalized the game at 4-2.
On Deck:
The Mets will travel to West Palm Beach, Florida, to take on the Washington Nationals at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on Saturday evening.
Jordan Yamamoto will get the start. Thus far, he has impressed, pitching five innings in two appearances, striking out three with no earned runs allowed. Who the Mets bats will face in the evening matchup remains unknown as of this writing.
First pitch is currently scheduled for 6:05 pm EST.
