On the Mets beat

Mets 13, Marlins 0

Players of the game

Oliver Perez: Six strong innings with eight strikeouts. Bonus points for that nasty, filthy, dirty slider.

David Wright: Went 3 for 5 with a home run, double and three RBI. And one spectacular diving stop and throw.

Carlos Beltran: Went 3 for 4 with three doubles (but one was a home run that was overturned).

Ryan Church: Went 3 for 5 with three RBI and the Mets' first homer of the season. He also made a great play in the first inning, playing Hanley Ramirez's hit off the right-field fence and throwing a strike to Reyes for the out.

Bottom of 9th - Billy Wagner finishes the game. Willie needed to get Wagner some work before the Braves series, when he will more than likely get the call for a save or two.

Top of 9th - Reliever No. 6 for Marlins - Kevin Gregg. Could be a long year for that bullpen. Do these guys have rubber arms or what? And the Marlins had another guy warming in the bullpen during the inning. Unbelievable! Church got his third hit and third RBI of the game, driving in Delgado with an infield hit. Schneider's sac fly scored Pagan. That's two RBI for Schneider. Mets up 13-0.

Bottom of 8th - Pedro Feliciano relieved Figueroa and had no trouble. Still 11-0.

Top of 8th - Mets go quietly. Reyes and Beltran are out, Easley and Chavez are in. Fifth reliever in for Marlins - Justin Miller. Do the Marlins have a long reliever?

Bottom of 7th - 1-2-3 inning for Figueroa. Looking ahead a bit .... tough stretch after this series with the Braves, Phillies and Brewers up next. How about that Johan-Smoltz matchup Sunday?

Top of 7th - Taylor Tankersley is now in for the Marlins. Nothing like killing your bullpen in the first series of the season. That's already four pitchers. In a game like this, you send out a long reliever for this type of work. But I'm not the manager and I don't have to answer to the owner. Nice to see the bottom of the order producing. Church has two hits, and so does Angel Pagan. Schneider has been on base three times (two walks). He knocked in Pagan with an RBI single to make it 11-0. Nelson Figueroa, who replaced Pedro on the roster, is coming in. Perez is done, with the Mets clearly wanting to keep him fresh for Shea Opening Day. Line on Perez: 92 pitches, 6 inn., 5 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts. The Mets absolutely needed that with today's news.

Bottom of 6th - Ollie is cruising along. 1-2-3 inning, including his eighth strikeout (another nasty slider that took care of Mike Jacobs). But let's not forget the great diving stop and throw to get Josh Willingham by Wright that ended the inning. That was a double, easily. But Wright's a Gold Glover.

Top of 6th - Big, big inning. Lee Gardner is the latest reliever out of the the Marlins' bullpen. Church greeted him with a single, Brian Schneider walked and Perez sacrificed them over. Reyes followed with a two-run double. Castillo singled. Then Wright figured out a way to beat that left field scoreboard/wall - hit it high and deep. That's what he did with a three-run, 433-foot blast. There's not a lot of fans in the stadium anyhow. Let's just say the nearest fan will probably need a few days to get that ball because there isn't anybody sitting in that part of the park. Five runs and a 10-0 lead.

Bottom of 5th - Perez really buckled down, no thanks to Castillo. It all started when Brett Carroll hit a soft liner to Castillo, who caught the ball and then it popped out of his glove. However, the umpire already called Carroll out, but Cody Ross, who was at first, ended up at second because Castillo tried to toss the ball to Reyes for a double-play attempt. Castillo's toss went wildly past Reyes. Perez then walked his first batter, so he had two runners on for the first time in the game. But another nasty slider, this time to Ramirez, ended the inning. Perez has seven Ks.

Top of 5th - That scoreboard in left field is awfully frustrating. In fact, the entire stadium in Miami stinks. That's what happens when you play in a football stadium. Wright just tatooed a ball off the left field wall - same as Beltran did in the third. But no dinger. Wright ended up with a double. Didn't matter. Beltran greeted former Mets minor leaguer Matt Lindstrom with a double off the top of the right field fence. Beltran, who nearly hit a home run in the third only to have that left field wall send it back, should've had a home run. The ball clearly went over the fence and hit some railing. It was originally ruled a home run, but was overturned. Oh yeah. Miller - as predicted here earlier - didn't last long. He hit 90 pitches with one out in the inning and that was all. That brought in Lindstrom. Mets lead 5-0, but it should be 6-0.

Bottom of 4th - Oliver Perez's slider is filthy tonight. He's changing speeds, and he's staying ahead of the hitters. He's got six strikeouts for the game. Nice 1-4-3 double play to end the inning. Castillo did a nice job staying in there and getting rid of the ball, and Delgado made a nice scoop at first. Still 4-0.

Top of 4th - News flash! Andrew Miller got a 1-2-3 inning. He's struggled in this game, but he has six strikeouts. Let's see if Oliver stays sharp.

Bottom of 3rd - Oliver Perez looks very good. He struck out three in the inning and now has five strikeouts for the game. He got Marlins catcher Paul Hoover on a changeup, he took care of Miller and finished the inning by blowing a fastball by Dan Uggla. Perez got two hitters on sliders earlier in the game so he's showing a nice array of pitches tonight. I'm sure Willie is hoping Perez goes deep into the game to give the bullpen a break.

Top of 3rd - Mets lead 4-0. Angel Pagan's two-out RBI double scored Beltran, who also doubled. Can't fault anyone on Beltran's hit. David Wright singled ahead of Beltran and took off immediately on Beltran's hit, which hit the top of the leftfield wall. There may have been some confusion about whether it was a home run - but it wasn't. Wright was running hard the whole way. Just a nice relay by the Marlins. Good baserunning by Beltran to take third on the throw to home.

Bottom of 2nd - Nice, easy inning for Perez. Three flyball outs.

Top of 2nd - Early candidate for player of the game? Ryan Church. He showed defense in the first and offense in the second. Church hit a two-run home run - the Mets' first homer of the season - to highlight a three-run inning. Carlos Delgado's opposite-field single scored Carlos Beltran, who doubled to lead off the inning. I don't think Marlins starter Andrew Miller will last too long in this game. He has thrown 48 pitches through two innings, including 37 in the second. He walked two batters, but recorded all three outs on strikeouts. The kid has a nice fastball with some pop. If he ever figures out his control, he'll be tough.

Bottom of 1st - Well, Ryan Church can play defense. Leadoff hitter Hanley Ramirez hit a shot off the rightfield wall, but Church played it perfectly and threw a strike (on the fly) to Jose Reyes, who made a nice tag to get the non-hustling Ramirez at second base. Good thing for the Mets because third hitter Mike Jacobs singled, which would have scored Ramirez (Beltran had a little trouble fielding it). Perez looked good, striking out Dan Uggla and Josh Willingham on sliders.

Top of 1st - The Mets managed just one hit - by Luis Castillo - against young Andrew Miller. David Wright grounded into a double play to end the inning. Miller has a history of control problems and walking batters during his short professional career. We'll see what the Mets can do. Oliver Perez's turn.