For four innings, Jeff Locke was perfect.
Twelve men up for the New York Mets. Twelve men down.
Problem was, it was the inning http://www.officialbearsshops.com/shop-by-players-sherrick-mcmanis-... that wasn’t close to perfect for Locke — a messy first — that led to his downfall on Wednesday night in the Marlins’ 8-0 loss to the Mets.
Locke labored through a demanding 32-pitch first inning in which the southpaw gave up three runs on three hits and a pair of walks, as his record fell to 0-4. The big blow in the decisive inning for the Mets was Asdrubal Cabrera’s two-run homer.
“Sometimes when the damage is done, it’s a little too late, and that was the case [Wednesday night],” Locke said. “It goes back to the first inning. It’s inexcusable, really.”
After that, Locke was golden. He http://www.officialbengalssales.com/shop-by-players-brandon-lafell-... threw just 48 pitches over the next four innings and lasted into the sixth, when manager Don Mattingly took him out with two outs.
“[I’m] just really happy with the way we rebounded,” Locke said. “You have to take the positives and throw out the negative stuff. Unfortunately, I had a tough first inning, ate up a lot of pitches.”
Mets leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson set the tone when he fouled off four pitches during a nine-pitch at-bat that culminated in a walk. Cabrera than put one in the seats to give the Mets a quick 2-0 lead.
“Giving up the home run right after [the walk to Granderson], that ended up becoming the deciding factor of the game,” Locke said.
Locke struggled to survive the inning. He got Tim Jennings Kids Jersey out of it only when Travis d’Arnaud was thrown out in a rundown on Jose Reyes’ RBI single that made it 3-0.