Recap: NY Mets vs. Florida
Sports Network | September 28, 2008
Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Back-to-back homers by Wes Helms and Dan Uggla in the eighth inning will haunt the Mets' faithful for the rest of the offseason, as the Florida Marlins once again spoiled New York's playoff chances with a 4-2 conquest in a tragic send-off for Shea Stadium.
The Mets dropped their first game at Shea to the Pirates on April 17, 1964, but the loss on the last day of the 2008 regular season cost the Mets a chance at a one-game playoff for the National League wild card.
New York and Milwaukee were tied for the last postseason spot in the NL heading into Sunday's contests, but CC Sabathia and the Brewers took care of their business with a 3-1 victory over Chicago. The win, coupled with the Mets' loss, gave Milwaukee its first postseason appearance since 1982.
Scott Olsen held the Mets to two runs on three hits with a walk and four strikeouts in a six-inning start, while Joe Nelson (3-1) got the win with a scoreless inning of relief for Florida (84-77), which won three of its final four games, including two in this three-game set.
Josh Willingham and John Baker each added an RBI in the victory.
Carlos Beltran accounted for New York's runs with a two-run homer in the sixth, as New York (89-73) registered just four hits in the deflating loss.
Scott Schoeneweis (2-6) allowed Helms' go-ahead homer in the eighth and was credited with the loss, while Odalis Perez, starting on three-days rest, allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
The Mets, who dropped six of their final nine games, will move to the 45,000- seat capacity Citi Field next season.
The score was knotted, 2-2, heading into the eighth. Schoeneweis was brought in from the bullpen and the Marlins countered with pinch-hitter Helms, who clubbed a 1-1 fastball that cleared the left field fence for just his fifth homer of the season.
Luis Ayala was brought in to keep it a one-run game, but Uggla connected on a pay-off pitch that was crushed over the left-center field wall for a two-run lead.
The Mets had an opportunity to plate a runner in the eighth. Jose Reyes doubled with two away, and Kevin Gregg walked Beltran to put the go-ahead run at the plate. Florida called in Arthur Rhodes and the veteran induced an inning-ending fly out to left from second-half sensation Carlos Delgado.
Matt Lindstrom worked around a two-out walk in the ninth, finishing off his fifth save of the season with a warning-track fly out off the bat of Ryan Church.
The game was delayed 49 minutes due to rain, but both pitchers didn't miss a beat by keeping their respective opponents off the board for the first five innings.
Cameron Maybin, batting leadoff for the injured Hanley Ramirez, recorded a ground-rule double to open the sixth. Baker failed to get down a sacrifice bunt, but swung away on a 1-2 count and singled home Maybin.
Jorge Cantu singled to center and a fly out moved both runners into scoring position. Uggla was intentionally walked and Mets manager Jerry Manuel pulled Perez in favor of the beleaguered bullpen.
Joe Smith came in and walked Willingham with the bases loaded on five pitches to force in a run, but managed to get out of the jam with minimal damage.
Beltran brought the crowd to its feet with his 27th home run of the season in the bottom half, depositing a 1-0 fastball into the left field seats to score himself and Robinson Cancel, who walked to open the inning.
New York finished the season series with a 10-8 edge over the Marlins... Ramirez was sidelined with a shoulder injury...New York blew a seven-game lead in the NL East with 17 games left on the regular-season schedule in 2007...On hand for the post-game ceremony were 45 Mets alumni, including Darryl Strawberry -- the all-time Shea Stadium leader with 127 homers and 388 RBI -- Tom Seaver -- Shea's all-time wins leader with 105 -- Willie Mays, who finished his career with the Mets, Mike Piazza and Keith Hernandez...3,737 regular season games were played at Shea with an additional 39 postseason games, including the Mets' clinchers in the 1969 and 1986 World Series...The Mets finished 55-38 under Manuel this season...Marc Anthony was on hand to sing the national anthem, while Emmy Award-winning actress Glenn Close brought the crowd to its feet with her rendition of "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch...Shea Stadium was a host to numerous momentous occasions, including: the 1964 MLB All-Star game, a Beatles concert in 1965, the Jets victory over the Raiders in the 1968 AFL Championship Game, a mass said by Pope John Paul II in October 1979, and Piazza's dramatic two-run, eighth-inning homer in the first professional sporting event in New York to follow the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.
