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Paulino pushes Marlins to victory in extras
NEW YORK -- As Tim Wood sprinted from the bullpen to the mound on Wednesday, the rookie reliever kept repeating one line to himself: "Pound the zone."
On an exhausting and often flabbergasting night, the Marlins desperately needed someone to throw strikes.
Because Wood did, Florida was able to prevail, 7-6, in a wild and unpredictable game with the Mets that lasted 10 innings at Citi Field.
Wood worked a perfect 10th, throwing 15 pitches with 10 strikes, to seal a game in which the Marlins wouldn't have earned any style points. Bottom line, it was ugly. In all, Florida's pitchers walked nine, hit a batter and committed a crucial balk.
Before getting called in to polish off the final inning, Wood had a brief conversation with bullpen coach Reid Cornelius.
"He said, 'Just pound the zone.' All the way as I was running out to the mound, I was telling myself, 'Pound the zone. Pound the zone,' " Wood said. "I did that today. It showed. With these big league hitters, if you're not around the zone, they're going to spit on that stuff. They're not going to swing."
Wood, in his 20th MLB game, became an improbable hero in a game the Marlins probably didn't deserve to win. The right-hander was initially headed to Triple-A New Orleans, but he made the Opening Day roster after Brian Sanches went on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring.
"Words can't describe it. I've been wanting this for a long time," Wood said of his first big league save. "I was trying to do this in the Minor Leagues. To come into this, trying to get the final three outs, and I get the first save of my big league career. It's really nice. It's a good experience."
After watching a late-inning, five-run lead disappear, the Marlins still managed to prevail. Barely.
Ronny Paulino's pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the 10th provided the difference.
After losing 7-1 in Monday's opener, Wednesday's win gives the Marlins the chance to take two of three at Citi Field.
"It's the second game of the year," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It feels like it's about the 140th right now after that one."
The alarmingly high walk total prompted Gonzalez to add: "We can't do that, because we're going to get our heads beat in."
Still, the Marlins managed to regroup.
Wes Helms opened the 10th with a single off Hisanori Takahashi. Chris Coghlan's sacrifice bunt advanced Helms, and Paulino ripped a single to center. Helms used a head-first slide to narrowly miss being tagged out by catcher Rod Barajas.
But the wild streak from the seventh inning on inspired the Mets to rally back from a five-run deficit, with the affair eventually going to extras.
"I told them in the meeting [in Spring Training], 'Guys, if you give up three solos in a row in the ninth inning, and we lose the game, I'll be the first one on the top step. You can't walk people,'" Gonzalez said. "I have all the confidence in them, and patience, but walking people is not satisfactory."
The Mets capitalized on the free passes and pulled even with three runs in the eighth. Jose Veras got into a jam by allowing successive singles to David Wright and Mike Jacobs. A missed chance to turn a double play when Jason Bay grounded to third scored Wright. Back-to-back walks to Gary Matthews Jr. and Jeff Francoeur loaded the bases with one out.
Barajas lifted a fly out to left field, and the Marlins got away with a break when Coghlan sailed a high throw to the backstop. Veras was backing up the play, and no runner scored. With two outs and the bases loaded, closer Leo Nunez was called upon to preserve a two-run lead. Fernando Tatis walked to make it 6-5, and some crafty baserunning by Matthews at third base caused Nunez to balk. Matthews broke towards home, and Nunez flinched. The balk tied it.
Before the late-inning letdown, Ricky Nolasco was in line for the win. The right-hander gave up three runs on three hits in 6 2/3 innings.
"It's early in the season, and it's good to get that out of the way now," Nolasco said. "I think everybody in this clubhouse knows our bullpen is a lot better than that. I don't think that's ever going to happen again.
"There were some breaks that we didn't catch. We didn't give up."
Jorge Cantu, Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla each connected on solo home runs for Florida. The Marlins collected 17 hits, compared to six for the Mets.
Uggla's shot to left field in the seventh inning off Sean Green made it 6-1. The blast was the 122nd of Uggla's career, which ties him with Gary Sheffield for fourth most in franchise history. Mike Lowell is the Marlins' all-time leader with 143.
In a wild seventh inning, the Mets took advantage of three walks and a hit batter to score two runs on one hit. Nolasco opened the inning and walked Bay and Matthews. Francoeur reached on a fielder's choice, and Barajas lifted a sacrifice fly on Nolasco's 104th and final pitch. Renyel Pinto entered and surrendered a single to pinch-hitter Tatis. Alex Cora was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Luis Castillo walked to force in a run.
Veras replaced Pinto, and his first pitch to Wright was high and off the glove of catcher John Baker. As the ball drifted away from Baker, Tatis raced home from third. Baker hustled to the ball, and threw to the plate, where Veras was in position to apply the tag for the third out.
"We can't walk people," Gonzalez said. "We're lucky that we didn't lose the game today. We really are."
On an exhausting and often flabbergasting night, the Marlins desperately needed someone to throw strikes.
Because Wood did, Florida was able to prevail, 7-6, in a wild and unpredictable game with the Mets that lasted 10 innings at Citi Field.
Wood worked a perfect 10th, throwing 15 pitches with 10 strikes, to seal a game in which the Marlins wouldn't have earned any style points. Bottom line, it was ugly. In all, Florida's pitchers walked nine, hit a batter and committed a crucial balk.
Before getting called in to polish off the final inning, Wood had a brief conversation with bullpen coach Reid Cornelius.
"He said, 'Just pound the zone.' All the way as I was running out to the mound, I was telling myself, 'Pound the zone. Pound the zone,' " Wood said. "I did that today. It showed. With these big league hitters, if you're not around the zone, they're going to spit on that stuff. They're not going to swing."
Wood, in his 20th MLB game, became an improbable hero in a game the Marlins probably didn't deserve to win. The right-hander was initially headed to Triple-A New Orleans, but he made the Opening Day roster after Brian Sanches went on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring.
"Words can't describe it. I've been wanting this for a long time," Wood said of his first big league save. "I was trying to do this in the Minor Leagues. To come into this, trying to get the final three outs, and I get the first save of my big league career. It's really nice. It's a good experience."
After watching a late-inning, five-run lead disappear, the Marlins still managed to prevail. Barely.
Ronny Paulino's pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the 10th provided the difference.
After losing 7-1 in Monday's opener, Wednesday's win gives the Marlins the chance to take two of three at Citi Field.
"It's the second game of the year," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It feels like it's about the 140th right now after that one."
The alarmingly high walk total prompted Gonzalez to add: "We can't do that, because we're going to get our heads beat in."
Still, the Marlins managed to regroup.
Wes Helms opened the 10th with a single off Hisanori Takahashi. Chris Coghlan's sacrifice bunt advanced Helms, and Paulino ripped a single to center. Helms used a head-first slide to narrowly miss being tagged out by catcher Rod Barajas.
But the wild streak from the seventh inning on inspired the Mets to rally back from a five-run deficit, with the affair eventually going to extras.
"I told them in the meeting [in Spring Training], 'Guys, if you give up three solos in a row in the ninth inning, and we lose the game, I'll be the first one on the top step. You can't walk people,'" Gonzalez said. "I have all the confidence in them, and patience, but walking people is not satisfactory."
The Mets capitalized on the free passes and pulled even with three runs in the eighth. Jose Veras got into a jam by allowing successive singles to David Wright and Mike Jacobs. A missed chance to turn a double play when Jason Bay grounded to third scored Wright. Back-to-back walks to Gary Matthews Jr. and Jeff Francoeur loaded the bases with one out.
Barajas lifted a fly out to left field, and the Marlins got away with a break when Coghlan sailed a high throw to the backstop. Veras was backing up the play, and no runner scored. With two outs and the bases loaded, closer Leo Nunez was called upon to preserve a two-run lead. Fernando Tatis walked to make it 6-5, and some crafty baserunning by Matthews at third base caused Nunez to balk. Matthews broke towards home, and Nunez flinched. The balk tied it.
Before the late-inning letdown, Ricky Nolasco was in line for the win. The right-hander gave up three runs on three hits in 6 2/3 innings.
"It's early in the season, and it's good to get that out of the way now," Nolasco said. "I think everybody in this clubhouse knows our bullpen is a lot better than that. I don't think that's ever going to happen again.
"There were some breaks that we didn't catch. We didn't give up."
Jorge Cantu, Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla each connected on solo home runs for Florida. The Marlins collected 17 hits, compared to six for the Mets.
Uggla's shot to left field in the seventh inning off Sean Green made it 6-1. The blast was the 122nd of Uggla's career, which ties him with Gary Sheffield for fourth most in franchise history. Mike Lowell is the Marlins' all-time leader with 143.
In a wild seventh inning, the Mets took advantage of three walks and a hit batter to score two runs on one hit. Nolasco opened the inning and walked Bay and Matthews. Francoeur reached on a fielder's choice, and Barajas lifted a sacrifice fly on Nolasco's 104th and final pitch. Renyel Pinto entered and surrendered a single to pinch-hitter Tatis. Alex Cora was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Luis Castillo walked to force in a run.
Veras replaced Pinto, and his first pitch to Wright was high and off the glove of catcher John Baker. As the ball drifted away from Baker, Tatis raced home from third. Baker hustled to the ball, and threw to the plate, where Veras was in position to apply the tag for the third out.
"We can't walk people," Gonzalez said. "We're lucky that we didn't lose the game today. We really are."
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