Marlins Bullpen Falters in Loss to Mets

The Miami Marlins held a late lead until their bullpen gave it away in an 8-6 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday.

Leading by two with two innings to play, Miami saw New York post four runs and take the victory. Despite the insignificance of the final score, one of the names that surrendered the runs is worrisome for the Marlins. Kyle Barraclough struggled and he is currently one of the potential in-house replacements for Carter Capps.

Barraclough is a player with success closing out games in the minor leagues, and could be looked at as a potential set-up man in Miami. This effort won't help his case however as he allowed two runs in only two-thirds of an inning. Also of concern is how those runs scored off the right-hander. Barraclough walked three men and did not allow a hit. Control is critical in late-inning work, and Miami will be hesitant to hand over important innings to Barraclough if this keeps up.

It was also a rough day for rotation candidate, Jose Urena. Coming out of the pen, the right-hander gave up four runs in two-thirds of an inning. Like Barraclough, control issues were the problem here as Urena walked three. Urena now has a 8.44 E.R.A this spring, and it is looking as if he will open the year in AAA.

The starter in this one was Justin Nicolino and he did a lot to help himself. In the mix for a rotation spot, Nicolino tossed four shutout innings and allowed three hits. Nicolino now has a 2.16 E.R.A in the spring, and is a leading contender for the fifth spot in the rotation.

At the plate, Dee Gordon picked up his first triple in March and also swiped his first base of the spring. Gordon went 3-3 in the game with two runs scored and has his average up to .286 after a slow start.

As part of a 16-hit day for the Marlins, there were plenty of knocks to go around. Marcell Ozuna, Martin Prado and Christian Yelich all doubled. Prado also singled in the game and knocked in a run.