Marlins 8, Mets 5: Bonifacio and Sanchez Annoy Mets Fans

Coming into the Mets' second game in Florida, Gaby Sanchez had the following slash line against New York's National League team: .379/.426/.632. By the end of the game, that slash line was even more impressive.

Through five innings of the game, everything was going reasonably well for the Mets. They still couldn't figure out Clay Hensley, who was making his third big league start since the beginning of the 2008 season, but managed to score a pair of runs in the fifth inning when David Wright singled through the left side of the infield to score Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran.

Chris Capuano looked good through those five innings, finishing off the fifth with a total of five strikeouts, three walks, and no runs allowed. The game was no sure thing at that point, but it turned for the worse very quickly.

In the bottom of the sixth, Capuano allowed a leadoff single to Annoyance-of-the-Month Emilio Bonifacio, who scored on Omar Infante's ensuing triple. Then came Mets Killer Gaby Sanchez, who smoked a line drive over the left field fence to put the Marlins up by a run. Capuano retired Mike Stanton before yielding another home run, this time to Logan Morrison, but finished off the sixth with the deficit still at two runs.

The game wasn't quite over yet, though, and the Mets got back within a run in the top of the seventh. With one out, Reyes and Turner each singled, and Beltran singled, too, to bring Reyes home. Unfortunately, Burke Badenhop got David Wright to fly out and Mike Dunn got Daniel Murphy to ground out to end the inning with the Marlins' lead intact. 

Then came D.J. Carrasco, who struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing the Marlins to extend their lead. Bonifacio singled and stole second, annoying Mets fans yet again, and Infante hit a hard ground ball down the third base line. David Wright made a diving grab to keep the ball in the infield but threw a one-hundred-hopper to first base that Murphy misplayed, and Bonifacio scored easily. And then Gaby Sanchez homered again to put the Fish ahead 7-3.

The Mets didn't score in the eighth, and then Ryota Igarashi made like his LOLpen predecessor, getting two outs before allowing the Marlins to score an insurance run. This time, Dewayne Wise singled, stole second, and score on a single by John Buck. At 8-3, the odds of the Mets coming back were slim.

In the top of the ninth, Lucas Duda pinch hit to begin the inning and hit a bomb to right field off Leo Nunez, his first home run of the season and another sign that he just might be a capable major league hitter. Jose Reyes followed up with a home run to right field of his own to make it 8-5, but Nunez got the next three batters out to end the game.

Surprising cultural reference of the game: "The Big Lebowski finally hits his first home run of the season." - Gary Cohen

SB Nation Coverage

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

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Carlos Beltran, +16.0% WPA, Justin Turner, +14.9% WPA
Big losers: Chris Capuano, -27.9% WPA, Daniel Murphy, -19.9% WPA, D.J. Carrasco, -17.9% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: David Wright two-run single in the fifth, +23.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Omar Infante rib-eye triple in the sixth, -24.3% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -45.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: -4.1% WPA
GWRBI!: Gaby Sanchez

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Terry_is_God; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.