Mets 7, Marlins 6: Wright Turns Marlins into Fish Sticks

It may not have have been the prettiest game, but the Mets eventually won in David Wright's return to the lineup, thanks largely to David Wright.

Jose Reyes grounded out to begin the game, but that didn't stop the Mets from making Chris Volstad look awful in the first inning. Justin Turner singled, Carlos Beltran walked, and David Wright went the other way with a double that scored Turner to give the Mets a very early lead. Daniel Murphy then singled to bring Beltran home, and Angel Pagan hit a deep sacrifice fly that scored Wright. The Mets were up three, a necessary lead with Mike Pelfrey set to take the mound in the bottom of the inning.

Pelfrey was his usual self in the game, turning in another mediocre outing as the Marlins chipped away at the Mets' lead. Emilio Bonifacio scored a Reyes run in the first inning, hitting a single, stealing second base, advancing to third on a fly ball to center field, and coming home on a ground out by Logan Morrison.

The Fish continued to cut into the lead in the second inning with a solo shot by Mike Stanton that would have probably been a pop up to right field if it were hit by anyone else on the planet. The power that kid has is downright unreal.

In the third inning, it was once again Bonifacio, who looks like Shane Victorino's evil twin, who scored. Pelfrey walked him, and as he attempted to steal second base, Omar Infante singled to left field through the spot where Jose Reyes would have been standing if not for the stolen base attempt. As Lucas Duda slowly tossed the ball back in to the infield, Bonifacio reached and rounded third and broke for home, scoring easily. The game was tied on a very ugly play for the Mets.

The Mets regained the lead in the top of the fourth inning after Reyes singled with one out and Bonifacio gave the Mets a gift with an error on a ball off the bat of Justin Turner. Carlos Beltran's single took a hop off the infield dirt that went over the head of Gaby Sanchez, and Reyes could have run backwards while doing somersaults and scored.

In the sixth, Pelfrey surrendered yet another home run, this time to Gaby Sanchez, and the game was tied.

The up-and-down of the game continued in the seventh inning. The Irish Hammer walked to get things started for the Mets, and Angel Pagan attempted a sacrifice bunt that turned into much more for the Mets. Florida reliever Steve Cishek fielded the ball and threw it into right field, putting Pagan on second and Murphy on third. Ronny Paulino's sacrifice fly put the Mets back in front.

Pedro Beato came on to pitch the bottom of the inning, and what a shaky inning it was. It could have been worse, but Beato allowed the Marlins to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Morrison. Bobby Parnell came in with Hanley Ramirez at the plate and got out of the inning without further damage.

As was the case a couple of times earlier in the game, the Mets once again answered by taking the lead. Turner walked, and one out later, Wright again doubled to right field to score another run. Murphy then did the same to give the Mets a two-run lead. The other important thing in the top of the eighth was that Jack McKeon took Hanley Ramirez out of the game in a double switch.

Parnell stayed in the game for the bottom of the eighth, let a couple runners reach base, the first of which was Gaby Sanchez, who reached on a blown call by the first base umpire that was officially scored a throwing error on David Wright. The throw wasn't pretty and pulled Murphy off the bag at first base, but Murph got his foot back on the bag well before Sanchez's foot landed on it. Shortly thereafter, Parnell gave up a broken-bat bloop single to Greg Dobbs to get the Marlins back within a run of the Mets.

The ninth inning was the first inning since the fifth that neither team scored a run, and it was Jason Isringhausen who got the call to close the game for the Mets. Izzy threw a 1-2-3 inning, the third out coming against Dewayne Wise, the dude who caught the final out in Mark Buerhle's perfect game and was Hanley Ramirez's spot in the lineup thanks to McKeon's aforementioned double switch.

The series continues tomorrow at 7:10 pm with Chris Capuano pitching for the Mets and Clay Hensley, who dominated the Mets' depleted lineup on Monday, starting for the Fish.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Fishstripes Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: David Wright, +28.2% WPA, Jason Isringhausen, +20.2% WPA
Big losers: Pedro Beato, -19.9% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: David Wright rib-eye double in the eighth, +30.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Gaby Sanchez solo dinger int he sixth, -18.8% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -5.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: +55.0% WPA
GWRBI!: Daniel Murphy

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.