On the Mets beat

Good evening everyone. Marc Jimenez with you as the Mets open a three-game series against the Florida Marlins. Oliver Perez (9-7, 4.00 ERA), who is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in four starts against the Marlins this season, will be going for the Mets (74-60). In his last outing, Perez allowed four runs on four hits with eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings during a 6-4, 10-inning loss to Houston on Sunday. Chris Volstad (4-3, 3.42), who is looking for his first win in three starts, will be on the hill for the Marlins (68-66).

Stat of the day: Carlos Delgado is 6-for-13 with four homers and nine RBIs in the last three games.

Top 1st: The Mets scored a run on Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly. Jose Reyes led off with an infield single and later stole second. Luis Castillo reached on a bunt single and also stole second to set up second and third with no one out. After David Wright struck out, Carlos Delgado walked before Beltran lifted his sacrifice fly. Ryan Church followed and flied out to Wes Helms, who made a great catch near the bullpen. Mets 1, Marlins 0.

Bottom 1st: Perez allowed an infield single to Hanley Ramirez, but nothing else. Paul Lo Duca popped out to Delgado, who made a nice catch in foul territory. Jorge Cantu flied out and Wes Helms grounded out.

Top 2nd: Not much for the Mets this inning. After Daniel Murphy flied out, Brian Schneider struck out and Perez, oddly enough, drew a walk. Reyes followed and made good contact, but hit it right to Cantu at first for the final out.

Bottom 2nd: Perez gave up a towering homer to Josh Willingham, his 10th , before striking out Cody Ross, getting Dan Uggla to ground out and fanning Jeremy Hermida. Mets 1, Marlins 1.

Top 3rd: Wright and Beltran each singled in the inning, but the Mets could not take the lead as Church struck out looking to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd: The Marlins went ahead this inning. Starter Chris Volstad reached on an error by Reyes, moved to second on Ramirez’s walk, took third on Lo Duca’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a Cantu’s sacrifice fly. Marlins 2, Mets 1.

Top 4th: The Mets went down in order as Murphy struck out and Schneider and Perez grounded out.

Bottom 4th: Perez allowed two walks in the inning, but he benefited from the pitcher’s best friend: a double play. Ross hit it right to Delgado for an unassisted DP.

Top 5th: Second straight hitless inning for the Mets. Reyes struck out looking. (He argued with the ump, but to no avail.) Castillo grounded out and Wright flied out.

Bottom 5th: Perez got out of the inning without allowing a run, but he looked a little out of it. He issued a one-out walk to Ramirez before getting Lo Duca to fly out and Cantu to ground out.

Top 6th: 10 straight Mets have been retired. This time, Delgado, Beltran and Church grounded out.

Bottom 6th: Perez gave up a stand-up, two-out triple to Ross before getting Hermida to ground out two batters later. Perez is likely done. He has thrown over 110 pitches.

Top 7th: The Mets wasted a golden opportunity to tie the game (or take the lead). With the bases loaded and one out, Castillo grounded into a fielder’s choice and Wright struck out.

Bottom 7th: Brian Stokes came on for Perez and worked a 1-2-3 inning.

Top 8th: Another eventful inning for the Mets, but sadly for them, no runs were scored. Arthur Rhodes started the inning. Delgado fanned and Beltran reached on a E3. (Beltran hit a weak grounded to Cantu, who could not pick up the ball cleanly.) Two batters later, Murphy singled Beltran to third to end Rhodes’ night. Matt Lindstrom came on and got Endy Chavez to ground back to him for an easy out.

Bottom 8th: It wasn’t pretty, but Joe Smith worked a scoreless inning. Top of the order will come up for the Mets. Will they tie the game?

Top 9th: The Mets were down to their final out before they made an incredible come back. After Robinson Cancel popped out and Reyes grounded out, Castillo, Wright and Delgado reached before Beltran belted a grand slam. Mets 5, Marlins 2.

Bottom 9th: Luis Ayala came on and was VERY shaky. Hermida hit a one-out single and moved to second two batters later on a two-out single by Ramirez. Former Met Mike Jacobs followed with an RBI single and Cantu laced a run-scoring double to make it 5-4. But with second and third, Helms grounded out. Final: Mets 5, Marlins 4.