Mets blank the Marlins, offensive struggles continue for the Fish

There were not many positive take aways from the game tonight. The Mets limited the Marlins to five hits. Jason Vargas, a low quality pitcher, struck out seven Marlins while only walking one. The Marlins were able to string some hits together, but could not bring anyone home.

The offense was pretty lifeless until the top of the fifth inning. Justin Bour started the inning striking out, but Cameron Maybin would follow that up with a walk. Miguel Rojas would then single, putting men on first and second. Lewis Brinson was up next, and he had to do something because the pitcher was up after him. Brinson did what he has been doing (besides his big game yesterday) for a long time, striking out. The pitcher would strike out next ending the inning.

The sixth inning was another disappointing moment for the offense. After getting the first two batters out, the Mets would give up a hit to Starlin Castro. Brian Anderson and Justin Bour would both walk after, loading the bases. Derek Dietrich came up next and the Mets brought in a familiar face to try and get the third out. A.J. Ramos came in and on a big time curveball strucke out Dietrich.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The Marlins would also get runners in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings but nothing would come from this. The Mets pitching is pretty weak and this was just a bad display of offense by the Fish.

Elieser Hernandez pitched a strong five innings. He only gave up one run, on five hits while striking out three. The Mets best hitter Asdrúbal Cabrera and Marlins killer, Wilmer Flores did all the damage. Adam Conely made his return to the majors, pitching one inning for the Fish. Nick Wittgren also pitched an inning, but gave up an un-earned run. The last Marlins reliever for the night was Tayron Guerrero, he gave up a hit and a walk but kept the Mets off the board.

One upside from tonights game was that the Marlins had some really good defensive plays, besides their one error. Rojas made a really good play on a short hop, that he had to field from behind Prado who tried to get the ball first. Brinson made a nice sliding catch in the outfield. Brian Anderson made a really terrfic sliding catch that saved what could of been a double. J.T. Realmuto also threw out Michael Conforto when he tried to steal second base.

The Marlins will have Caleb Smith for game two, going up against Zack Wheeler at 7:10 pm.

Courtesy of Fangraphs

Kingfish: Jason Vargas (.279WPA)

Flounder: Nick Wittgren (-.077)

Play of the game: Asdrúbal Cabrera’s run-scoring double.

Attendance: 22,505

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Matchup Summary

Mets swept the Marlins in Miami last month in their only series against one another so far this season. But the Fish have since returned J.T. Realmuto, Dan Straily and others from the disabled list, including tonight’s starter, Elieser Hernández.

Should be slightly more competitive this time.

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