3/2 Game Recap: New York Mets Mount Late Comeback to Tie Miami Marlins, 8-8

The Mets took to the field for the first time this spring without David Wright in the building, as the third baseman is now in Arizona with the rest of Team USA preparing for the World Baseball Classic. Outside of a tough outing for Hansel Robles, both sides of the ball played very well for the Amazins, as they closed the 7-3 deficit in the sixth by scoring five runs in the last three innings of the ballgame to secure their second tie in a week’s time.

Today’s game was full of offense, as both teams combined to hit five home runs, seven doubles, and one triple out of the combined 25 hits. It was nice to see Terry Collins start off with Collin Cowgill and Ruben Tejada in the top two spots of the lineup, as that could very well end up being what the order looks like next month at Citi Field if everything continues to play out as it has.

Feb 26, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; New York Mets first baseman Zach Lutz (19) is unable to field an throwing error during a spring training game against the Miami Marlins in the first inning at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Highlights:

• Matt Harvey started the contest for New York, and ended up throwing 2.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk, while striking out four Marlin hitters. The one run came on a Christian Yelich home run.
• As I mentioned above, Hansel Robles had a tough time today, as the 22-year-old continues to get knocked around. He hasn’t pitched higher than Short-A ball in Brooklyn, but this can be used as a good learning experience for the young hurler. Robles lasted 1.2 innings and gave up five runs on four hits and two walks, striking out two.
• It was a day of bouncing back for the rest of the Mets pitchers, as Elvin Ramirez, Collin McHugh, Carlos Torres, and Greg Burke put together solid outings after getting touched up in each of their last appearances.
• The offense was spread out, but Lucas Duda and Zach Lutz were the only batters to put together multi-hit games, each collecting two hits.
• Duda and Brian Bixler supplied the most power of the afternoon, each hitting a home run. Travis d’Arnaud continues to impress with a double, and Omar Quintanilla tripled in one of his two at-bats, after coming in for Tejada.

Thoughts:

It was nice to see the Mets come back from a big deficit, as it shows us these guys have a little bit of fight in them. If (God forbid) Johan Santana has to head to the disabled list before starting the season, Sandy Alderson said the top two candidates to take his place in the rotation for the time being would be either Jenrry Mejia or Collin McHugh. So, seeing McHugh have a nice outing after getting roughed up in his last time getting to the mound made me feel a little bit for the time being. Greg Burke had a tough second inning of work his last time out as well, so I’m glad we got to see him bounce back and put together a solid inning, as I think that would usually be his limit in games if he does make the squad.

I’m most encouraged by the day Lucas Duda had. Last week, I talked about what that innocent single up the middle could do for his confidence, as he continues to get used to his new approach at the plate, and it seems to just be getting better. What I enjoyed more than seeing Duda hit a home run is that he hit it out to center field. His approach looks much more uniform than last year and he’s sticking to staying through the middle of the field, which will help him handle off-speed pitches more consistently.

Here’s a recap of the game off the Mets official website.

Next up:

The Mets will face off with the Marlins again tomorrow at 1:05pm, but this time they will be the visitors, as they head to Jupiter for the contest.

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