On the Mets beat

Good evening everyone. Marc Jimenez here to take you through tonight’s game as the Mets visit the Florida Marlins. Following Johan Santana’s dominating performance in a 9-1 win over St. Louis on Sunday, the Mets have won 15 of its last 19 games. John Maine (9-7, 4.20 ERA) will try to keep the Mets (57-48) on top of the NL East. In his last start he allowed three runs on six hits with five strikeouts over seven innings in a 6-3 win over Philadelphia on Wednesday. Ricky Nolasco is going for the Marlins (55-50).

Will be back after the Mets bat.

Top 1st: Reyes grounded out on a nice bare-hand play by Cantu. Chavez followed with a single, but Wright and Delgado each popped out to second.

Bottom 1st: Maine had an OK first inning. He allowed a one-out walk to Hermida and a single to Cantu before getting Willingham to pop out and Uggla out on strikes.

Top 2nd: The Mets get two this inning. Beltran singled and scored on a Tatis’ triple (though it should have been a double and an error) and Easley followed with an RBI base hit. Schneider and Maine, who could not get down the bunt, struck out and Reyes flied out. Mets 2, Marlins 0.

Bottom 2nd: After allowing a leadoff single to Jacobs -- who did not run hard out of the box, costing himself a double -- Maine set down the next three.

Top 3rd: Quick inning for the Mets. Delgado reached on an infield single with two outs, but he was thrown out trying to steal second as Beltran had a 1-2 count.

Bottom 3rd: A solid inning for Maine. He allowed a double to Hermida, but on the next play, Hermida made a mistake when he tried to go to third on a ball hit to Reyes. Maine then got Willingham to ground out.

Top 4th: Nolasco is looking much better as he struck out the side: Beltran, Tatis and Schneider. Easley, however, singled before Schneider made the last out.

Bottom 4th: Maine strikes out the side! (Last 6 outs all on strikeouts.)

Top 5th: Nolasco struck out the side again! He fanned Maine and Reyes. Chavez reached on an error by Uggla -- no surprise there -- before Wright went down swinging. (Last 9 outs via the strikeout.)

Bottom 5th: During the first batter Maine faced in the inning, he appeared to have some discomfort. The Mets trainer and Manuel came out, but Maine stayed in the game. Though, on the very first pitch Maine threw to the batter, Baker, he allowed a home run. Maine got Nolasco to fly out then he was lifted in favor of Carlos Muniz. Ramirez followed with a double and Cantu nearly hit a two-run homer before flying out. Maine was charged with a run on four hits with six strikeouts and a walk. Oh, I almost forgot, Wright made a nice catch on a foul pop-up from Hermida. He jumped into the stands and elbowed a fan before making the excellent grab. Mets 2, Marlins 1.

Top 6th: Mets get nothing other than a single by Tatis.

Bottom 6th: Bad inning for the Mets as the Marlins tie the game at 2. Willingham reached as Muniz failed to cover first base and moved to second on a wild pitch before scoring on Ross’ RBI single. Mets 2, Marlins 2.

Top 7th: The Mets got a leadoff walk by Evans (off Pinto) but could not bring him in.

Bottom 7th: Sanchez came on and allowed a one-out infield single to Ramirez before fanning Hermida and getting Cantu to ground out.

Top 8th: The Mets took the lead this inning thanks to some sloppy play by the Marlins. Wright singled and took advantage of the shift being played on Delgado and advanced all the way to third base as Delgado grounded out. Beltran was then intentionally walked. Tatis followed and hit into a taylor-made DP, but Uggla’s throw to first base was wide as Wright scored. Mets 3, Marlins 2.

Bottom 8th: Huge inning for the Marlins as they scored five runs. Joe Smith started and allowed a double to Willingham and an RBI single to Uggla to tie the game at 3. Smith was pulled for Schoeneweis but it didn’t get any better. Helms had a pinch hit single and Ross followed with an RBI base hit to give the Marlins the lead. Baker followed with a bunt single -- though Wright should have made a play. After Amezaga flied out and Ramirez struck out on a 3-2 pitch, the Marlins scored on a wild pitch and added two more on a double by Andino. Marlins 7, Mets 3.

Top 9th: Castro, Anderson and Reyes go down in order. Ugly loss for the Mets. Final: Marlins 7, Mets 3.