Mets Gut Marlins, 13-0
by: Michael Avallone | Staff Columnist - NY Sports Day | Thursday, April 3, 2008
When the word officially came about an hour before gametime that Pedro Martinez would miss 4-to-6 weeks with a "mild left hamstring strain," the New York Mets did what any club with title aspirations would do.
They took their frustrations out on their opponents.
David Wright belted a monstrous three-run homer and Carlos Beltran stroked three doubles to pace a 17-hit attack in support of Oliver Perez as the Mets blanked the Florida Marlins, 13-0, in front of 13,720 on Wednesday night at Dolphin Stadium.
Ryan Church also went deep and drove in three runs for New York, which has won five consecutive series in Miami.
Despite scoring 11 runs in their first two games, the Met offense had struck in just four of their first 19 innings. That changed on Wednesday as they scored in five different frames, including a five-spot in the sixth.
Already leading 5-0, New York sent eight men to the plate against Marlins reliever Lee Gardner to turn the game into a rout. Following a leadoff single by Church (3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) and a walk to Brian Schneider, Perez laid down a sacrifice. Jose Reyes then ripped a double to right which scored both runners for a 7-0 edge. A single by Luis Castillo moved Reyes to third and Wright (3-for-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) then clubbed his first longball of the season, a 433-foot moonshot into the bleachers in left.
The 25-year-old third baseman did not homer last season until New York's 25th game on May 2. He also has driven in six runs in his first three games this year after needing 22 games to do so in 2007.
The blast came one inning after Beltran (3-for-4, 3 2B, RBI) appeared to hit his first home run. With Wright at third and one man down, New York's centerfielder lined a ball that appeared to hit a railing just above the wall in right. The umpires initially ruled it a two-run homer, but after Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez came out to protest, the umps convened and overturned the ruling, putting Beltran back at second with an RBI double.
Schneider (1-for-2, 2 RBI) had an RBI single and a sacrifice fly while Church added a run-scoring single in the ninth.
Perez (1-0), who enjoyed close to six runs of support in 29 starts last year, took the mound in the bottom of the second with a 3-0 lead and never looked back. The 26-year-old tossed 93 pitches over his six innings and limited the Fish to five singles and a walk with eight strikeouts in his first start of the year.
Nelson Figueroa -- called up earlier in the afternoon when Martinez was placed on the 15-day disabled list -- tossed a scoreless inning in his first Major League appearance since 2004. Pedro Feliciano and Billy Wagner closed out the series with a scoreless inning apiece.
The Met bullpen allowed just one run in 11 1/3 frames in the three games.
Both Perez and Marlins starter Andrew Miller worked a scoreless first, which was highlighted by Church's throw to nail Hanley Ramirez going for two after singling off the wall in right to start the bottom half.
New York got on the board in the second, scoring three times off Miller (0-1). After Beltran led off with his first two-bagger of the game, Carlos Delgado dropped a ball down the line in left for an RBI single and a 1-0 lead. One out later, Church laced a liner over the wall in right for his first longball as a Met.
Angel Pagan increased the lead to 4-0 with a two-out double in the fourth, his fourth RBI of the season.
Miller became the second Florida starter in as many days to not make it past the fifth inning. The 22-year-old lasted just 4 1/3 innings and allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts. The effort continued a trend in the series for the Marlins starters -- Mark Hendrickson, Rick VandenHurk and Miller -- who combined to surrender 14 runs and 21 hits in only 12 1/3 frames.
Matt Lindstrom, Gardner, Taylor Tankersley, Justin Miller and Kevin Gregg combined to allow eight runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings of relief for the Fish.
Every Mets position player had at least one hit.
After defeating Florida for the 11th time in 13 games at Dolphin Stadium, the Mets (2-1) will travel to a place where they haven't enjoyed the same amount of success. John Maine (15-10, 3.91) will toe the rubber in his 2008 debut on Friday night at Turner Field against the Braves after a superb spring in which he posted a 1.53 ERA, which included just one run allowed in his final 25 2/3 innings of work. Maine, who tied Oliver Perez for the team-lead in victories last year with 15, faced Atlanta three times in 2007 and finished 1-1 with a 3.93 ERA. However, he allowed just two runs and six hits over 13 innings in his final two starts against them. A house of horrors for New York since it opened in 1997, the Mets have improved their play at Turner Field in recent years, going 11-7 there the last two seasons.
After finishing up a series with the Pirates with an extra-inning loss on Thursday, the Braves (1-3) will welcome the Mets to town for a three-game set. Tim Hudson (0-0, 2.57) will take the hill for his second start of the season after yielding two runs over seven innings against the Nationals last Sunday. He left the game trailing 2-1 but received a no-decision when Atlanta tied it in the ninth. A 16-game winner in 2007, the 32-year-old was 2-2 with a 3.33 ERA in four appearances against New York last season. For his career, Hudson is 7-4 along with a 3.62 ERA in 12 starts versus the Mets but just 2-2, 4.28 in Atlanta.
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