Game two of the Marlins-Mets series in Puerto Rico kicked off with the announcement that interim manager Edwin Rodriguez would be dropping the "interim" from his title, and would remain the manager of the Fish through the end of the 2010 season.
Well, the news apparently didn't sink in for the first few innings of the game. Or maybe the Marlins were as baffled by the news as the rest of the world, because Nate Robertson gave up three runs to the Mets in the first two innings, and the Fish lineup struggled against Hisanori Takahashi.
It was actually Nate Robertson who nabbed the Marlins' first hit of the game, a two-out single in the bottom of the third, which seemed to inspire the Marlins. They proceeded to load up the bases for Hanley Ramirez, and Hanley was gracious enough to unload them with a grand slam that put the Fish on top. (Spare us any comments on the timing of Hanley's power surge--Fredi was not behind his lack of power).
Things unraveled further for Takahashi when Jorge Cantu doubled, and Dan Uggla followed with a two-run shot to give the Marlins a 6-3 lead.
Takahashi would last 5 2/3 for the Mets, and would not allow another run to the Fish. Nate Robertson held the Mets to their three runs as well, but was lifted with in the top of the seventh after Mike Stanton screwed up a routine fly out to put a runner on second with nobody out.
After an odd double switch from manager Edwin Rodriguez, Tim Wood came in and allowed his inherited runner to score, proving further that it doesn't really matter who is managing the Marlins bullpen, our relievers are still going to struggle.
Jose Veras managed to hold the Marlins lead for 1 1/3 innings, but Leo Nunez gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth to blow the save and allow the Mets to tie up the game.
With two out in the bottom of the ninth, Jorge Cantu doubled off of Pedro Feliciano, and Dan Uggla singled up the middle to bring him home and provide a walk-off win for the Fish.
So far, San Juan has been good to the Marlins.