Marlins 7, Mets 6: Puerto Ricowned

Hisanori Takahashi played the role of R.A. Dickey tonight, giving up six runs in a disastrous third inning. He retired the first two batters in the frame, then allowed the next seven to reach base. Opposing pitcher Nate Robertson started it off with a single, and eventually Hanley Ramirez hit a grand slam and Dan Uggla added a two-run shot. Tak2 has two problems -- his drastic platoon split and hitters lighting him up the second and third time through the order. Neither is a desirable characteristic for a starting pitcher, so it may be true that he is more suited for the bullpen. Regardless, he is still one of the top five starting pitchers currently on the roster and I would keep him in the rotation for the time being.

All seemed lost entering the ninth, with hard-throwing Marlins closer Leo Nunez set to face Rod Barajas-(pinch hitter)-Jeff Francoeur with a two run lead. However, Barajas started things off with a single, Chris Carter roped a pinch-hit double, Francoeur hit an RBI groundout and pinch hitter Josh Thole tied things up on a single with the infield playing in. Unfortunately, the Mets were unable to take the lead, as Ike Davis flied out and Jose Reyes struck out to end the inning. The very beefy Uggla ended things shortly thereafter against lefty specialist Pedro Feliciano. While it's true that Fernando Nieve and Ryota Igarashi haven't been very good, I still would have taken my chances with either against righthanded hitters Emilio Bonifacio, Ramirez, Cantu and Uggla in the ninth. Jerry probably didn't have any confidence in his remaining relievers, given their dreadful showing Monday night. That doesn't change the fact that Perpetual Pedro struggles mightily against righties.

Some bullet thoughts:

• David Wright went 3-for-4 with three singles and has a Playstation-esque .547 wOBA against lefties this season. He was thrown out twice on the basepaths though, once trying to advance to second base on a throw home and once attempting to steal second base. Mets' baserunning has been strong this year but hasn't looked pretty of late (Mr. Francoeur's Wild Ride from this weekend also comes to mind). Aggressiveness for the sake of it is dumb, so let's hope things are toned down a bit.
• Carrying three catchers hamstrung the Mets tonight. Seven relievers for this team is a must.
• Angel Pagan had an encouraging night, going 1-for-2 and playing some smooth defense. He was lifted for Jesus Feliciano when the Marlins brought in a righty reliever. I'm curious to hear how Pagan feels after tonight. He'll almost certainly have the day off tomorrow with righthanded Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad taking the hill.
• Fernando Tatis continued to struggle. He hit a pop-up double which should have been caught and failed to hit a ball hard in three at-bats. In his defense, playing time has been sporadic, mainly because the four corner positions are manned by everyday players who Jerry rarely rests. He's also probably been a bit unlucky (.205 BABIP, 19.5 LD%) but bottom line he isn't producing. Nick Evans is playing well in Double-A and serious consideration should be given to dropping Tatis for Nasty Nick. Tatis is being paid just $850K this season, a small price to pay for a guy worth 3.5 wins over the last two seasons. Eating money isn't a concern here. The emergence of Ike has made him somewhat superfluous and Tatis-in-training Evans should soon get another shot in the big leagues. I just hope people don't lump personal favorite Fernando in with GMJoke, JaKobs, Catalanotgonnaworkhereanymore and Cor-ugh -- he doesn't deserve that.

Mike Pelfrey will try to stop the bleeding tomorrow night as the Mets say farewell to Puerto Rico. Also, Brian Schneider and Wilson Valdez each hit a three-run homer tonight for the Phillies. Seriously.

Unintentionally sexual quote of the game: "That's Elmer Dessens. That's just [his] lower half. Trust me, it's Elmer" -- Keith Hernandez