It’s not every day that you see a team give up five plus runs in their opponent’s last at bat, watching the game slip out of their hands in the process, but for the second time in two weeks, a Mets game ended with drama… and not the kind that Mets’ fans wanted.

Despite pulling out to a 3-2 lead in the 8th inning, the Mets were unable to hold on as a blown save resulted in a 7-3 loss last night in Dolphins Stadium. A strong start by John Maine ended in the fifth inning due to shoulder stiffness.

Despite Maine’s early efforts, the Mets’ bullpen was not able to hold on for four plus innings of relief as reliever Joe Smith blew the save in the eighth inning giving up two quick runs. Scott Schoeneweis then allowed the Marlins to pile on, by giving up three insurance runs before the inning was over – resulting in a missed opportunity for the Marlins to stave off the surging Marlins.

Lost in the shuffle was a 2-for-4 performance by Fernando Tatis, which included a triple and two RBIs. As for Florida, their 14 hits were spread out, but included multiple-hit performances by Hanly Ramirez, Josh Willingham, Cody Ross, and John Baker.

With the loss, the Mets lose ground and lead the division over Philadelphia and now Florida, by a-half-game and one game, respectively.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 8:13 am and is filed under mets tickets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.