Mets hit more but lose after Maine catches Ollie-itis
Mets starter John Maine struggled with his control, throwing 41 pitches in a 3-run first inning, including 12 straight balls to load the bases to open the game. Credit: AP
MIAMI - Oliver Perez could have company in the bullpen soon, and at this rate, Francisco Rodriguez will be vying for a spot in the back end of the rotation. As much as the Mets had to bounce Perez, John Maine still is pitching every fifth day, and he was the most to blame for last night's 7-5 loss to the Marlins.
Manager Jerry Manuel should have seen it coming. Maine opened his 41-pitch first inning by walking the first three hitters - on 12 consecutive balls. When he finally threw a strike to Jorge Cantu, the crowd of 26,007 gave him a sarcastic cheer.
"That was really shocking and surprising," said Manuel, who was forced to have Raul Valdes warm up in the middle of the inning. "That puts you into a tough position. You don't want to go into your bullpen in the first inning, especially with the limitations we had tonight."
One of those limitations was possibly saving Hisanori Takahashi to replace Perez for Wednesday's start against the Nationals. Manuel was able to stay away from him last night, but he had to use three other relievers, so that will get tougher to do in the coming days.
As for Maine, he offered no explanation. He had been 1-1 with a 3.04 ERA in his previous five starts, and after three straight outings of six innings, consider last night a relapse. He allowed seven hits and six runs while throwing 113 pitches in five innings - after what he described as a great bullpen warm-up.
"That first inning did me in," Maine said. "It was just unacceptable. I think it stings a little bit mentally to know you felt fine and did terrible."
"You hope it's just one thing and it goes away," Manuel said. "But if it's something that continues for him, you have to address that as well. We're in the business of performing. This is the big leagues."
Manuel's decision to return Jose Reyes to the leadoff spot and drop Angel Pagan to No. 3 worked to some degree; both scored during a third-inning rally that tied the score at 3. David Wright had a pair of RBIs, hitting his eighth home run and first since May 5 in Cincinnati, and Luis Castillo also drove in two runs with a seventh-inning triple and a single in the ninth, when the Mets' final rally failed.
In that ninth, slow-footed Rod Barajas made a huge mistake when he was thrown out trying to stretch a leadoff single. "It was dumb baserunning," he said. "Unless you're 100 percent certain you can make it, you stay at first base. There's no excuse for it."
The Mets suffered their sixth loss in seven games as they slipped below .500 (18-19) for the first time since April 23 (8-9).
After the Mets rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the score, the Marlins took a 6-3 lead in the fifth. Hanley Ramirez opened with a looping double down the rightfield line and Jeff Francoeur compounded the problem with a throwing error that Jason Bay had to clean up near the Mets' bullpen. Cantu doubled home a run, Cody Ross ripped an RBI single to right and Cameron Maybin hit a sacrifice fly.
With the bases loaded and none out in the first, the Mets appeared to turn a double play on Cantu's line drive to Reyes, who flipped to Castillo. The replay showed that Gaby Sanchez had been doubled off, but the Mets didn't get the call, and Maine walked Dan Uggla to force in the first run. An out later, Maybin stroked a two-run single.
