Jason Vargas and the New York Mets had the chance to get the second half of the season started against the only team who has performed more poorly than themselves in the National League. Things though as they have all season, did not go as planned for the Metropolitans as they dropped the series opener by a score of 8-4.

Vargas, 36, went just 5+ innings for the Mets while allowing six runs on five hits while both walking and striking out one. Jason imploded in the third inning with two outs when he could not seem to keep his focus off the opposing pitcher, Caleb Smith. He attempted to pick him off first base six times before surrendering a home run to an old friend to Mets fans, Curtis Granderson, giving the Marlins the lead for good on Friday night.

“I didn’t think he was going to steal at all,” Vargas said. “If we caught him going, or them moving him to stay out of a force play, that would’ve been great. It takes a little bit out of you to dive. [That] had more to do with it than thinking that he was going to steal. I was trying to take advantage of him putting himself in a situation where he’s going to have to work harder. I didn’t make the pitch that I needed to make.”

It was a rough start for Vargas who has mostly been a steady piece for the rotation since May. Vargas had not allowed more than three earned runs in a game dating back to April 13 for the Mets, providing a nice string of starts that gave his team a chance to win.

Manager, Mickey Callaway spoke about the distractions Vargas faced with the attempted pick-offs, which ultimately might have been what led to his demise.

“We talked about that. Sometimes it can interrupt the flow of the game,” Callaway said. “What he was trying to do tonight is, the pitcher kept getting off pretty far, and if he was going to keep diving into the bag, Vargas wanted to make him dive as many times as possible.”

“That’s all well and good, and I understand that, we just can’t let it throw ourselves off. When you’re out there pitching, the rhythm of the game, the flow of the game matters a lot, especially when you try to make pitches. Unfortunately, when we did that, we threw ball, ball, then gave up a homer. Who knows if it was because of that, but we do need to pay attention to that.”

Vargas is still expected to garner some buzz come the deadline for pitching-starved teams due to his strong overall season. The Mets and their fans will hope this is just a blip on the radar for Vargas after what has been a solid season for the veteran southpaw.

The stats do not tell the whole story for Vargas who has pitched to a 3-5 record with an ERA of 4.23, a FIP of 4.65 and a WAR of 0.9.