Mets vs. Marlins Recap: Syndergaard's dominance not enough as offense sputters

The Mets dropped a close game to the Marlins last night, losing 2-1. After a solid first inning against Jose Fernandez, including an RBI single by Lucas Duda, it seemed like the Mets' offense was poised to put a few runs on the board, but they did not. They threatened in the second and the seventh but couldn't drive in a run.

Noah Syndergaard was dominant tonight, throwing seven innings of one-run ball and striking out twelve. He scattered seven hits and walked just one batter, throwing 72 of his 99 pitches for strikes. Derek Dietrich drove in a run against him in the top of the fourth, and the game remained tied for a long time.

Unfortunately, the offense and bullpen couldn't pick Thor up. He gave way to Jim Henderson, who came in red hot. After a long battle with Dee Gordon, who fouled off a bunch of pitches, Gordon singled. He stole second, and after Marcell Ozuna popped out, Henderson walked Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton. With the left-handed Justin Bour due up, Terry Collins called upon lefty Jerry Blevins. Don Mattingly countered by pinch hitting for Bour with Martin Prado, who hit a sacrifice fly that was ultimately the difference in the game.

Blevins, Addison Reed, and Jeurys Familia finished the game cleanly, but it was too little too late. The Mets' offense did little outside of the first two innings, though Yoenis Cespedes hit a ball to left field in the third inning that looked like a home run but got caught up in the wind and was caught just in front of the fence.

So far this season, Mets batters have a .250 batting average on balls in play, the third-worst mark in baseball. Meanwhile, opposing batters have a .327 BABIP against the Mets, good for seventh-highest in the game. Obviously, an infield defense that is relatively average will lead to a higher BABIP, but neither number is sustainable. The Mets were victims of their own anemic offense last night, but don't expect it to last.

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Box scores

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Win Probability Added

Big winners: Noah Syndergaard, +27% WPA
Big losers: Michael Conforto, -23% WPA; Jim Henderson, -19% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Neil Walker singles to center, moving Yoenis Cespedes to third with one out in the sixth inning, +10.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Michael Conforto follows that up by grounding into an inning-ending double play, -.18.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +7.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: -57.0% WPA
GWRBI!: Martin Prado