Mets 7, Marlins 4: Nick Evans Drives in Three Go-Ahead Runs, Mets Eventually Win Baseball Game

Delayed over an hour by rain, the Mets and Marlins played a twelve-inning game in which fiften pitchers were used, eighteen walks were issued, one batter was hit by a pitch, and the Mets gave up three leads.

Despite the fact that Miguel Batista twice loaded the bases with only one out in the third and fourth innings, the second game of the Mets' final visit to the football stadium outside Miami remained scoreless for four innings.

With two outs and runners on the corners in the top of the fifth inning, Justin Turner put the Mets on the board with a single. Lucas Duda followed up the hit with a walk to load the bases, but David Wright displayed an extreme lack of grission by flying out to end the inning.

The Marlins tied the game up in the bottom of the inning on a Greg Dobbs double. Given the way Batista was pitching to that point, the Mets were lucky it took so long for the Marlins to score.

It didn't take long for the Mets to regain the lead. A one-out single by Nick Evans drove in Willie Harris to put the Mets back on top, but Evans negated the impact of his hit by getting thrown out attempting to take second base on the play.

Batista made it through the sixth inning unscathed, but the game was tied once again in the bottom of the seventh with Manny Acosta on the mound. Once again, Greg Dobbs doubled in a run.

Just like the previous time the Marlins tied the game, the Mets responded with a run in the top of the following inning, thanks in part to a particularly poor managerial move by Jack McKeon. Angel Pagan doubled to begin the inning, and the Marlins intentionally walked Harris to face Evans. I'll say it again: The Marlins intentionally walked Willie Harris. Evans singled to drive in the go-ahead run for the second time.

Jason Isringhausen came in for the bottom of the eighth and picked up on the trend established by Batista in the third and fourth by loading the bases with one out. Izzy did it in particularly ugly fashion, walking all three of the baserunners, but managed to strike out Jose Lopez and Emilio Bonifacio to end the inning. Here's what Izzy's inning looked like in strikezone plot form:

Jose Reyes singled to start the ninth, and the managers sprung into action. Terry Collins called for a sacrifice bunt to move Reyes to second, always an irksome choice for Mets fans. Duda grounded out, moving Reyes to third. McKeon opted to intentionally walk Wright to get to Pagan, who doubled to score Reyes and extend the Mets' lead to two. With runners on second and third, McKeon again called for an intentional walk to Harris to get to Evans, but this time it worked.

Bobby Parnell was called upon in the bottom of the ninth, and he retired two of the first three batters he faced. Unfortunately, he issued a walk to Logan Morrison which proved to be costly when Mike Cameron came up and doubled to tie the game. After yet another intentional walk, Parnell struck out Donnie Murphy to send the game to extras.

The only noteworthy part of the top of the tenth inning was Jose Reyes' ill-advised attempt to stretch a single into a double with two outs. He was thrown out easily at second base to end the inning. The Marlins didn't score in the tenth, either, and the game continued.

In the bottom of the eleventh, Tim Byrdak issued a two-out walk but got a pop-up that could have ended the inning had Wright caught it on the grass behind third base. With runners on second and third, Collins brought in Ryota Igarashi, who struck out the only batter he faced to keep the game alive.

The Mets took their fourth lead of the game in the top of the twelfth on a trio of singles by Pagan, Jason Bay, and, of course, Nick Evans, the last of which scored one run and put runners on the corners. Ruben Tejada was sent to the plate to hit, and with a 2-0 count, Terry Collins put on the suicide squeeze for the second time in three days. This time, it merely resulted in a foul ball, and Tejada eventually struck out.

Jose Reyes lined a single to right field, his third hit on the night, and Bay came home to make it a two-run lead for the Mets. Turner walked to load the bases, the Marlins brought in Steve Cishek, and Cishek walked Duda on four pitches to give the Mets their seventh run of the night.

Josh Stinson finally put an end to the game in the bottom of the frame, throwing a 1-2-3 inning to notch his first major league save.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Fish Stripes Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Nick Evans, +33.9% WPA, Jason Bay, +23.6% WPA, Miguel Batista, +21.6% WPA
Big losers: Bobby Parnell, -40.8% WPA, David Wright, -25.3% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jason Bay single in the twelfth, +23.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Mike Cameron game-tying double in the ninth, -51.7% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +13.1% WPA
Total batter WPA: +36.9% WPA
GWRBI!: ##

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