Mets bullpen falters as sweep chance slips away in loss to Marlins

NEW YORK — One day after Luis Severino gave the Mets' bullpen a breather with a complete-game shutout, the team's relief unit could not repay the favor.

The combination of Huascar Brazoban and Reed Garrett failed to protect a Mets lead as they wasted their chance at a sweep in a 3-2 loss to the Marlins in front of 30,596 fans on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

The Marlins pushed across runs in the seventh and eighth innings as the Mets bullpen cost Paul Blackburn his sixth win of the season. The Mets' first two batters of the ninth inning reached on singles, but the Mets could not plate the tying run, with three straight outs.

The loss dropped the Mets to 64-60 ahead of an intriguing three-game series against the Orioles beginning Monday night. The Mets were 3-3 against the A's and Marlins last week.

"You would like to do better facing the teams that aren't necessarily in playoff contention," said Brandon Nimmo, who came out of the game with shoulder discomfort in the eighth inning. "We had a little bit of a rough go there for the schedule and so would have liked to do better, but also I think coming into this, these mean as much to them as they do to us.

"There'll be a lot of pressure riding on these games, and when that happens, I think it brings a lot of the best out of teams and people," he said.

That will kick off a critical stretch for the Mets, who will head off on a nine-game road trip later in the week, with four games against the Padres and three with the Diamondbacks — two teams the Mets are chasing in the National League wild card.

A rocky ending for Huascar Brazoban, Reed Garrett

With the Mets holding a 2-1 lead in the seventh, Brazoban gave up back-to-back singles before a wild pitch allowed Tim Hill to score the tying run. In the next frame, Garrett walked three batters before Phil Maton came on and gave up the go-ahead single to Hill.

"The free bases, any time you're playing in a tie game like that, they're going to come back and bite you, and that was the case again today," manager Carlos Mendoza said.

For Brazoban, it was a little bit of rough luck, with two of the three hits he allowed not leaving the infield. The damage was done, however, when he threw a pitch to the backstop.

"Honestly, I thought he was a little bit unlucky today," Mendoza said. "He got the first out and then he jams the next hitter and gets a weak ground ball for an infield single. A blooper, soft liner, gets another infield single after the wild pitch. Stuff-wise he was good."

After falling behind by a run in the third inning, the Mets offense punched back. In the bottom of the fifth inning with two runners on, Francisco Lindor tied the game with a two-out RBI single into left field.

In the next inning, Nimmo crushed a hanging changeup from Marlins starter Valente Bellozo into the second deck in right field to boost the Mets ahead 2-1. But the Mets were held in check by the Marlins' bullpen across the final 3⅔ innings.

Paul Blackburn gets settled in

In his first start at Citi Field back on Aug. 13, Blackburn did not feel comfortable with any pitches in his arsenal.

The result was a rough one for the newcomer, who allowed six earned runs in four innings in his home debut — a 9-4 loss to the A's.

Five days later, Blackburn was able to find his footing. Across six innings, Blackburn allowed one earned run on four hits and one walk while striking out four. It was his third quality start in four outings with the Mets since being acquired at the trade deadline on July 30.

"I think really was just kind of mixing it up, staying away, coming in," Blackburn said. "I threw a lot more curveballs today, just kind of the game plan going into it, but great job by Luis, the first time he ever caught me back there. I think it was kinda just good all around."

The lone Marlins run against Blackburn came when a line drive from Otto Lopez flew past a diving Tyrone Taylor in center field for a triple. Lopez scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Fortes in the next at-bat. On two of the singles that Blackburn allowed, he picked off the Marlins baserunner at first base.

Despite a no-decision, Blackburn lowered his season's ERA to 4.19.

Starling Marte back in the fold

After nearly two months away from the field with a deep bone bruise in his right knee, Starling Marte returned to right field for the Mets on Sunday afternoon.

Marte, who has been out since June 22, reenters an unsettled corner outfield situation, with the Mets adding Jesse Winker ahead of the trade deadline and Tyrone Taylor being featured prominently as well. Mendoza said Marte will be a big part of the Mets offense, but he will be careful, given his health.

"There’s gonna be days where (Marte) feels like he wants to go or he can go, but I’m going to sit him," Mendoza said. "There’s going to be days where I’m going to be taking him out of the game earlier. We just gotta be smart, especially where we’re at in the season for him being out of the lineup or not active for two months or so."

In his first game back, Marte finished 1-for-3 with a single before being removed prior to the seventh inning.

In a disjointed 2023 campaign, Marte played only 86 games after double groin surgery. In spring training, after Dominican Winter League success, Marte believed he was back to 100%. He opened the season by slashing .278/.328/.416 with seven home runs, 30 RBI, 38 runs and 12 stolen bases in 66 games.

Now Marte understands the balance in playing time that is ahead across the season's final few weeks.

"Things just happened on the field that you can’t really control," Marte said. "It is disappointing, it is frustrating but you have to continue to be positive and just be thankful for the opportunity and try to help the team in any way you possibly can."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Mets bullpen falters as sweep chance slips away in loss to Marlins