Rosario miscue in sloppy 7th costs Mets in loss to Marlins
In a big spot Sunday afternoon, the Mets’ rookie shortstop was E-med Rosario. The blunder Amed Rosario committed in the seventh inning against the Marlins doesn’t show in the box score as an error, but was a notable factor in the Mets’ 6-4 loss at Citi Field. “I am learning from all these small mistakes,” Rosario said. The lesson learned? Don’t dawdle when a player with Dee Gordon’s speed is running to first base. Rosario fielded Gordon’s grounder, hesitated — tapping his glove with the ball — allowing Gordon to beat out an infield single, helping ignite a huge inning for the Marlins highlighted by Giancarlo Stanton’s three-run homer against Jacob deGrom. In a rare show of emotion, deGrom raised his hands after Rosario’s mental lapse. Stan- ton hit the next pitch into the left-field seats for his majorleague leading 45th homer.
“Everybody is trying,” deGrom said. “When Rosario didn’t make that play, I put my hands up. I probably shouldn’t have done that. I have to talk to him. That’s my bad: I can’t show emotion out there like that, especially when it has to do with other players, when you know they are out there trying to play defense behind me. That’s on me.”
The 21-year-old Rosario, the organization’s top prospect, has brought flair to the shortstop position since his arrival to the Mets this month, but is also learning on the job.
Rosario wasn’t the only Mets player with a rough game defensively: Yoenis Cespedes dropped a routine fly ball in the seventh and Wilmer Flores had two balls deflect off his glove for RBIs.
But Rosario’s miscue came at the worst possible moment: The Mets trailed 2-1 in the seventh, and retiring Gordon would have left the Marlins with two outs and a runner on third. Instead, deGrom had to face the fearsome Stanton without an open base at first.
“[Rosario] learned a lesson and I am sure it won’t happen again,” manager Terry Collins said. “You don’t double pump when [Gordon] is running down to first base, for sure.”
Was Rosario aware of Gordon’s speed?
“I knew he could run well, but I got a little overconfident on that play,” Rosario said.
The Mets lost for the sixth time in seven games, concluding a weekend in which Curtis Granderson was traded to the Dodgers, continuing a sell-off that has also included Lucas Duda, Addison Reed, Jay Bruce and Neil Walker.
Cespedes homered in the first inning and delivered an RBI double in the eighth. But Cespedes also dropped the fly ball to left in the seventh that gave the Marlins an unearned run against Josh Smoker.
Stanton’s blast was the third homer surrendered by deGrom over his last two starts. Overall the righty lasted 6 ¹/3 innings and allowed five earned runs on 10 hits with eight strikeouts.
It followed a start in which deGrom allowed five earned runs over 7 ¹/3 innings against the Yankees.
“[DeGrom] might have been frustrated we didn’t make some plays, but it’s the same message,” Collins said. “You talk about the message over here about playing the game right, but when you are pitching you have got to pitch. You can’t worry about what is going behind you, you have got to pitch. If there are not plays made, you have got to pitch around it once in awhile.”