Let’s face it, the Miami Marlins suck… That is until the New York Mets set their eyes on a playoff spot. Then in a blink of an eye they suddenly transform themselves into a cross between Murderer’s Row and the Gas House Gang… Right?
Wrong! You can go ahead and hang last night’s loss to the Marlins squarely on the shoulders of manager Terry Collins who bumbled his way into a disheartening loss to one of the worst teams in baseball.
With Martin Prado already enjoying a four-hit night, Collins opted to leave left-hander Eric O’Flaherty in the game despite how awful he’s been since joining the team. Of course Prado then lined a walk-off double in the 11th inning that gave the Marlins a dramatic 6-5 win over the Mets.
Collins said he left O’Flaherty in the game because he had already used five relief pitchers and wanted his lefty to face the left-handed hitting Justin Bour who was on deck.
“You just don’t want him to get something good to hit because you’ve got Bour on deck,” Collins said afterward. “You’re starting to get a little thin down in the pen. So you think, ‘Hey, at least let him face Bour with the slider.’ That’s who we were trying to get to.”
The loss cut the Mets’ lead to five games over the Washington Nationals who enjoyed a walk-off win of their own on Friday night, as Michael Taylor blasted a pinch-hit, three-run homer to stun the Atlanta Braves in the bottom of the tenth.
Washington beat reporters were trying to interview some of the players after that game, but all of them were glued to the TV watching the final inning of the Mets versus Marlins. The clubhouse erupted as Christian Yelich scored the winning run and a raucous and boisterous celebration ensued.
In the last 48 hours, the Mets have lost 1 1/2 games off their first place lead atop the NL East. The Nationals have won six of their last ten games while the Mets have lost four of their last seven.
If we’re going to win this division we can’t afford losing games like we did on Friday night because of Terry Collins and his boneheaded and questionable management of the bullpen.
O’Flaherty has been dreadful out of the bullpen and to leave him in there with the game on the line and Miami’s hottest hitter at the plate was inexcusable. Thanks for nothing, Terry, this loss is on you.
