Mets vs. White Sox Recap: Mets on the Marcum in Chicago

Pitcher wins are perhaps the most useless of baseball's old counting stats because they don't really indicate anything about a pitcher. R.A. Dickey only had 19 of them between 2010 and 2011 despite posting a 3.08 ERA over 60 starts. But the one good thing about a Mets pitcher getting a win is that it means the Mets won the game.

Shaun Marcum threw eight scoreless innings against the White Sox, striking out two and walking two while giving up just four hits. He also got his first win of the season. Marcum has certainly been no Dickey, but he had made two excellent starts before beating Chicago.

As Marcum was cruising through the White Sox' lineup, John Danks was also pitching well against the Mets. In the fifth inning, however, Josh Satin was the key player in a three-run inning for the Mets. He led off the inning with a single, and after a John Buck strikeout, Satin took third on an Andrew Brown single. The aggressive move on the bases worked, and it also gave Brown an easy opportunity to take second base.

With runners on second and third, Juan Lagares smoked a ground ball to shortstop, and Alexei Ramirez botched it. Satin and Brown both scored on the play, and Lagares took second as the White Sox cut off the throw from the outfield that might have otherwise retired Brown at the plate. Lagares moved to third on a ground out and scored on a ground ball misplayed by White Sox third baseman Brent Morel. It was officially an Eric Young Jr. infield single.

The bottom of the fifth featured a pair of excellent defensive plays: a 6-4-3 double play turned beautifully by Omar Quintailla, Daniel Murphy, and Josh Satin and another great play by Quintanilla.

From there, Marcum got through three innings with ease, and Bobby Parnell threw a perfect ninth inning to preserve the Mets' win.

The Mets visit the Rockies on Thursday for a makeup game at 6:10 pm EDT. Jeremy Hefner takes the hill for the Mets, while Tyler Chatwood will starts for Colorado.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* South Side Sox Gamethread

Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Shaun Marcum, +46.2% WPA
Big losers: David Wright, -9.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Lagares's ground ball in the fifth, +14.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Gordon Beckham's double in the third, -4.5% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -1.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: +51.0% WPA
GWRBI!: Juan Lagares