Plain and Simple - The Mets showed up. The Marlins didn't.
That is not to take away from Johan Santana who was on point, but defensively Florida did nothing to keep it close.
Both Clay Hensley and Dan Meyer threw away the ball trying to check the runner on first base.
Gaby Sanchez dropped an easy out throw from Hanley Ramirez.
All three errors came in a 4-run 6th inning to give the Mets a 6-1 lead. New York went on to win 7-1 and win their 5th straight Opening Day game. The Marlins fell to 8-10 all -time, and 1-2 against the Mets, on Opening Day.
Josh Johnson allowed 4 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings and suffered his first loss against New York in his career. Johnson entered the game 7-0 with a 2.30 ERA in 9 games against the Mets. Santana moved to 6-1 all-time versus the Marlins. His only loss came last year on April 12 when Johnson pitched a one-run complete game to beat the Mets 2-1.
Cameron Maybin had the worst day of all the Marlins. He went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts and misplayed two pop ups in shallow center field. On both plays Maybin took three steps back before charging forward towards the ball. By then it was too late to recover. Maybin also had two fly balls go over his head. Those two hits were products of poor positioning on the field. Mets Center Fielder Gary Matthews Jr. was not affected by the wind that seemed to distract Maybin.
“It seemed like every inning it was blowing a different direction,” Maybin said. “It was tough.”
The Marlins only bright spot on defense came in the 4th inning when Hanley Ramirez dove and snagged a line drive by Alex Cora and double Jeff Francoeur off second base.
Jorge Cantu drove in Chris Coghlan with a double to center in the top of the 6th to bring in the only run for the Marlins, but was stranded on base when Ronny Paulino flied out to center. Paulino also went 0-4 and stranded four men on base.
Florida stranded a total of 10 runners on base. A trend that was evident with last years squad.
Perhaps the one day rest before next game will help the Fish recover and refocus in their effort to secure their first win of the season.
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