Game Recap: Miami Left Fielder Marcell Ozuna Throws Mets For A 3-2 Loss

Friday evening the Mets and Marlins convened in Miami for game two of their weekend set.

Following a pair of stellar performances turned in by starters Bartolo Colon and Zack Wheeler, Daisuke Matsuzaka climbed the hill at Marlins Park and was opposed by Henderson Alvarez.

After just two batters in the home 1st, the Marlins enjoyed a 1-0 lead.  The teams then traded zeros until the Mets defense failed them in the 7th.  Two errors resulted in a pair of unearned runs, and a 3-0 deficit.

Jun 10, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Miami Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna (13) during the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets struck back for a pair in the 8th, but Miami’s left fielder Marcell Ozuna threw out David Wright at the plate to prevent the tying run from scoring.

In the 9th inning, Marcell Ozuna did it again.  With two outs, he threw out Kirk Nieuwenhuis at home plate to end the game.

Mets Starting Lineup:

1) Eric Young Jr.-LF; 2) Daniel Murphy-2B; 3) David Wright-3B; 4) Curtis Granderson-CF; 5) Bobby Abreu-RF; 6) Lucas Duda-1B; 7) Anthony Recker-C; 8) Ruben Tejada-SS; 9) Daisuke Matsuzaka-SP

Game Recap:

Henderson Alvarez‘ first pitch of the evening to lead-off batter Eric Young Jr. was a fastball for strike one.  After Young’s ground out to second, Daniel Murphy slapped a fastball to left for a single.  Murphy then advanced to second on David Wright‘s 5-3 putout.  Batting clean-up, Curtis Granderson stared at strike three to strand Murphy.

Daisuke Matsuzaka‘s first pitch to Miami’s lead-off batter Rafael Furcal went for ball one.  After strike one, Furcal hit Daisuke’s third offering deep to right, over Bobby Abreu‘s head and high off the wall for a triple.  He then scored on Adeiny Hechavarria‘s ground out to second giving The Fish a very early 1-0 lead.

Alvarez retired the Mets in order in the top of the 2nd.  In the bottom of the frame, Miami catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia led-off with a double deep into the right/center gap.  Then with two outs, a walk to center fielder Jake Marisnick put runners on first and second for the pitcher.  But Alvarez was unable to help his own cause.

In the top of the 3rd inning, it appeared as if Henderson Alvarez suffered a possible cramp.  To the relief of his manager, whatever he felt, passed.  Alvarez then retired his eighth consecutive batter.

The Mets managed 3 hits off Alvarez in the top of the 4th, but could not convert them into runs.

In the home 4th, first baseman Garrett Jones gave the Mets a scare when he yanked a deep drive to right for a potential 2-run home run.  But after an umpire’s review, the ball was correctly ruled foul.

The 5th Inning Line:

• Henderson Alvarez – 72 pitches thrown, with 50 (69%) going for strikes; no runs, 4 hits, no walks, 5 strikeouts.

• Daisuke Matsuzaka – 72 pitches thrown, with 43 (59%) going for strikes; one earned run, 4 hits, one walk, 3 strikeouts.

With one out in the top of the 6th, (the old) David Wright launched a double to the right/center gap.  Curtis Granderson followed with another deep fly to right that advanced David Wright to third.  But with two outs, Bobby Abreu flied harmlessly to left.

Giancarlo Stanton led-off the home 6th with a base hit flared into shallow center.  Third baseman Casey McGehee then singled through the first base hole, sending Stanton to third.  With runners on the corners and no outs, Jarrod Saltalamacchia looked at strike three from Matsuzaka.  Terry Collins then made his way out to bring Josh Edgin into the game.  Garrett Jones stepped in, and promptly grounded into an inning ending 4-6-3 double play.

With one out in the top of the 7th and Anthony Recker on first, A.J. Ramos entered the game in relief of Henderson Alvarez, and likewise induced Ruben Tejada into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play.

Vic Black entered the game in the bottom of the 7th in relief of Josh Edgin.  With one out, Jake Marisnick singled and stole second base.  Pinch hitter Justin Bour drew a walk.  On Marisnick’s attempted steal of third base, Anthony Recker‘s throw went into left field for an error which gave Miami a 2-0 lead.  Bour advanced to third.  David Wright then made a foolish bare hand attempt on Hechavarria’s grounder to third on what would have been the third out.  Instead, the play went for an error, and allowed Miami to take a 3-0 lead.

Reliever Kevin Gregg entered the game in the 8th for Miami and was greeted with back to back singles by pinch hitter Chris Young and Eric Young.  Daniel Murphy followed with an infield-fly rule pop-up.  With one out, David Wright lined a sharp single to center field that delivered Chris Young from second base with the Mets first run.  EYJ advanced to third.

That spelled the end of Kevin Gregg‘s night.  Mike Dunn entered in relief and promptly walked Curtis Granderson to load the bases.  Pinch hitter Eric Campbell then lined a single to left which plated Eric Young, but David Wright was thrown out at home by Marcell Ozuna.  Pinch hitter Wilmer Flores followed, and struck out to end the threat.

Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless 8th inning.

With Steve Cishek in to pitch for Miami, pinch hitter Kirk Nieuwenhuis led off the top of the 9th with a double hit deep to right field.  Ruben Tejada bunted Nieuwenhuis to third.  Chris Young then drove a fly ball to relatively deep left field that was gloved by Marcell Ozuna, who then threw home to nail Kirk Nieuwenhuis at the plate.

Game over.

Scoring Summary:

• Bottom 1st inning – Rafael Furcal led off the game with a triple to deep right field, and scored on #2 batter Adeiny Hechavarria‘s ground ball out to second base.

• Bottom 7th inning – Jake Marisnick hit a one out single, stole second, and on an attempted steal of third, scored on catcher Anthony Recker’s throwing error.  With pinch hitter Justin Bour on third, David Wright’s fielding error allowed the Marlins to take a 3-0 lead.

• Top 8th inning – Pinch hitter Chris Young and Eric Young led-off with consecutive singles off Kevin Gregg.  With one out, David Wright’s single plated Chris Young.  With Mike Dunn pitching and the bases loaded, pinch hitter Eric Campbell‘s single scored Eric Young to make it a 3-2 game.  David Wright was thrown out at home plate by left fielder Marcell Ozuna.

• Final Score – Mets 2; Marlins 3

Highlights:

• Daniel Murphy could arguably be accused of more bad base running in the 4th inning.

• Ruben Tejada snapped an 0 for 12 streak at the plate in the 5th inning.  He also made a great defensive play in the 8th inning which prevented the lead-off batter from reaching safely.

• Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched 5.1 fairly good innings.  Although he avoided disaster on a potential home run ruled foul by inches, he nevertheless exited the game on the losing side of a 1-0 game.  He finished the night throwing 85 pitches, with 53 (62%) going for strikes.  He allowed just the one earned run in the 1st inning, gave up 6 hits, walked one and fanned 4 batters.  He entered the game with a 2.81 ERA, and lowered it to a 2.68 mark.

• A defensive meltdown in the 7th inning led to a pair of unearned runs, and ultimately wound up being the difference in another loss.

• Anthony Recker had a rough night.  He took a back swing to the elbow, fouled a ball off his left foot, and made an ill timed throwing error.

• I like to think I run an all inclusive recap.  So to all you pagans out there, let me be the first to wish you all a Happy Summer Solstice.

Next:

6/21 Saturday, 4:10pm – Mets @ MAARLINS

Jacob deGrom (0-4) vs. Tom Koehler (5-5)