The Marlins and Mets kicked off their final series of the season Tuesday night at Sun Life Stadium, and thanks to another quality start from Adalberto Mendez and a 3-for-4, 3-RBI night from Rookie of the Year candidate Gaby Sanchez, the Fish officially eliminated the Mets from postseason contention. Ah, that never gets old.
Adalberto Mendez went seven innings and allowed ten hits to the Mets, but limited them to just one run, thanks in part to some good defense and nifty double plays. The one run Mendez allowed came courtesy of a Lucas Duda home run in the second inning.
Mike Pelfrey had a nice night on the mound as well, allowing just two runs on five hits. In the bottom of the second, Dan Uggla and Gaby Sanchez singled to put runners at the corners with none out. Uggla scored when Chad Tracy grounded out to first base to tie up the game.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the seventh, when Pelfrey became the unfortunate victim of some bad defense. He gave up a double to Gaby Sanchez, who moved to third on Chad Tracy's groundout. Mike Stanton hit a ground ball directly to David Wright, but it bounced off his glove for an error, and the Marlins took the lead.
Jose Veras quickly erased the Marlins' lead, and Adalberto's chance at a win, when he gave up a solo home run to David Wright in the top of the eighth. It was the 25th blown save for the bullpen this season, and wasn't any more fun to watch than the first 24.
Thankfully, the Marlins got the lead back. Pedro Feliciano recorded the first two outs of the eighth, and then Elmer Dessens took over on the mound. Hanley Ramirez and Uggla hit back-to-back singles, and then Gaby Sanchez added to his argument for ROY when he capped off his stellar night at the plate by launching home run #19 on the season to give the Marlins a 5-2 lead.
Clay Hensley saved it in the ninth, and the Fish took game one of the series, and clawed their way back to .500. The win also guaranteed the Marlins will not have a losing record against the NL East.