Mets vs. Marlins Recap: Montero pitches well, but one comeback not enough for Mets

One night after a dramatic win against the Marlins, the Mets experienced a letdown as they dropped game two of a three-game series by a 4-3 score. Rafael Montero made a spot start and mostly pitched well in a no-decision. Meanwhile, the offense did little against Marlins starter David Phelps.

Montero began the game looking sharp as he started with three perfect innings. Those three innings included five strikeouts, three of which were of the looking variety. The first hit came when he gave up a lead off double to Dee Gordon in the fourth inning, however, nothing came of it and the Marlins went quietly in the fourth and fifth innings.

Montero and the Mets finally ran into trouble in the sixth inning. Dee Gordon led off with a single and advanced to second when Curtis Granderson bobbled the ball in right field. Martin Prado moved Gordon over with a bunt and Giancarlo Stanton singled him home. Marcell Ozuna followed with an infield single and Jacob Realmuto contributed an RBI single to chase Montero from the game. His final line was five-and-two-thirds innings with six strikeouts, one walk, and three runs, all of which were earned. Buddy Carlyle then threw a wild pitch to allow Ozuna to score before retiring the side.

On the offensive side of things, the Mets were stymied by David Phelps through six innings. They received hits from Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, and Eric Campbell but nothing came of them. Finally, in the seventh inning the Mets began to get to Phelps. Kirk Nieuwenhuis started the inning with a single. Anthony Recker then reached base when Martin Prado mishandled a sharp grounder that was ruled a hit. After Granderson loaded the bases on a bloop single, Juan Lagares cleared them with a triple over the head of Ozuna in center field.

With the score tied, Alex Torres contributed a strong inning of relief in the seventh. However, Carlos Torres came on for the eighth and struggled. He walked two batters, and despite retiring the dangerous Stanton, ultimately allowed an RBI single to Michael Morse to push the Marlins ahead. Steve Cishek came on to close out the game for the Marlins and bounced back from Monday night's game. He allowed a lead off walk to Granderson, but retired the next three batters to end the game.

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Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Curtis Granderson, +18.3% WPA, Daniel Murphy, +15.8% WPA, Juan Lagares, +13.1% WPA
Big losers: Carlos Tores, -24.8% WPA, Ruben Tejada, -18.0% WPA, Lucas Duda, -17.7% WPA, Eric Campbell, -16.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Lagares's bases-clearing, game-tying triple, +32.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Mike Morse's go-ahead single in the eighth, -22.8% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -23.1% WPA
Total batter WPA: -26.9% WPA
GWRBI!: Mike Morse