NEW YORK — Nate Robertson pitched
five solid innings in his first start for Florida in eight seasons, and
the Marlins beat the New York Mets 3-1 on Thursday night to win their
season-opening series.
Jorge Cantu hit a tiebreaking RBI
double in the fifth and Gaby Sanchez added a run-scoring double in the
sixth for Florida, which took the last two of the three-game set after
losing 7-1 on opening day.
The Mets wasted an effective outing by
Jonathon Niese, who made his first start at Citi Field since he tore
his right hamstring during a victory over St. Louis last August. The
23-year-old left-hander allowed three runs and eight hits in six
innings.
Jeff Francoeur hit an RBI double in
the fourth but that was all New York could manage against Robertson, who
was acquired from Detroit on March 30 when the Tigers decided to give
their final rotation spot to former Marlins star Dontrelle Willis.
Florida got Robertson and cash from Detroit for a minor league pitcher.
It sure looked like a nice deal on
Thursday night.
Robertson (1-0) allowed six hits in
his first start for the Marlins since Sept. 7, 2002, at Pittsburgh.
Florida selected the lefty in the fifth round of the 1999 draft and
included him in a 2003 trade with Detroit that put Mark Redman in Miami,
where he helped the Marlins win the World Series later that year.
Burke Badenhop followed Robertson with
three innings of one-hit ball and Leo Nunez finished for his first
save. The crisp effort by Florida's bullpen came one night after the
Marlins had to go to the 10th inning for a 7-6 victory after they led
6-1 in the seventh.
New York left two runners on in the
second and fourth in front of a sluggish crowd of 25,982. Ruben Tejada,
making his first career start, grounded into a fielder's choice to end
the second and Niese tapped out to finish the fourth.
Niese's injury last year was one of
the lasting images from a trying season for the Mets. He was hurt
covering first base on Aug. 5, and collapsed when he tried to throw a
practice pitch. He spent three weeks in bed after surgery to repair his
hamstring and couldn't walk normally for six weeks.
Back on the mound in New York, Niese
(0-1) got a couple of bad breaks in the first. Cameron Maybin reached on
a one-out grounder that skipped past lunging first baseman Fernando
Tatis. He moved up on Hanley Ramirez's walk and scored when Dan Uggla's
hard bouncer appeared to glance off third baseman David Wright's glove
for an RBI single.
Tatis helped Niese with his glove in
the third. With runners on second and third, he scooped up Wright's
bouncing throw to retire Uggla for the final out of the inning.
Notes
Mets SS Jose Reyes (thyroid)
was scheduled to play in Class-A St. Lucie's season opener on Thursday
night. If he gets through the rehab game with no problems, New York
manager Jerry Manuel said he likely would play against Washington on
Saturday. … Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said he may try to get C
Ronny Paulino some work at first base so he has more options late in
games. … Citi Field had a sellout crowd of 41,245 on Monday and hosted
38,863 on Wednesday night. … Marlins RHP Chris Volstad is scheduled
to face Dodgers RHP Hiroki Kuroda in Florida's home opener on Friday
night. … Mets RHP Mike Pelfrey and Nationals RHP Garrett Mock are
slated to pitch when New York hosts Washington on Friday night in the
opener of a three-game series.