Instead, the events of early Sunday morning transpired, and baseball was forced to move on without the young star, who seemed on his way to a Hall of Fame career. Everyone around the game was wounded, but none beyond Fernandez’s own family could compare to the feelings of the Marlins players themselves, who absolutely loved him. There have been countless posts around the internet since his sudden passing about just how much Fernandez meant to not only the team but the city of Miami itself, and every one of them contains a moving story. He was truly special.

Somehow, some way, the Marlins recuperated after the cancelled game Sunday to take on the Mets. There is an excellent game recap by Scott Orgera up that delves further into the contest itself, but the pregame ceremony was a tearjerker. The Marlins players gathered around the mound, all wearing “Fernandez 16” jerseys. A single trumpet played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and a choir later sang the national anthem.

The Marlins and Mets players hugged on the field in a stirring display of mutual respect and appreciation of Fernandez, whose loss was certainly felt on the opposing side. While watching up in the Marlins’ TV booth, Al Leiter (who played in the World Series for both teams) could not help but recall a similar memory from his days in Queens that many Mets fans likely also remembered at this moment.

It was another touching ceremony, this one on September 21, 2001 at Shea Stadium, a little over a week after the devastating events of September 11. In the first major sporting event since the attacks, “Taps” was played, New York firefighters and policemen were honored for the bravery, and the nation attempted to put itself back together. The Braves and Mets were fierce rivals at the team, and the Mets were trying to make a miracle run to stay in the playoff race. That didn’t matter. The two sides embraced on the diamond, with handshakes and hugs aplenty. Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, and the powerhouse Atlanta crew might have normally been enemies in New York, but on this night, only cheers came from the fans watching this gesture.

The parallels between Monday night and September 21, 2001 did not stop there. As almost every Met fan knows, Mike Piazza came up with the Mets trailing in the eighth inning and the steady reliever Steve Karsay on for Atlanta. He brought New York to its feet with a long home run to center field to put the Mets on top and make everyone smile again, even if just for a moment. There were tears, cheers, and almost every emotion imaginable. The Mets closed it out in the ninth to win 3-2 and instantly establish an unforgettable memory. Even the Braves players later admitted that they did not mind falling in this game.

On Monday, the Mets found themselves on the other side of the coin. This time, it did not take until late in the game for the baseball gods’ magical moment. Starting in place of Fernandez, Adam Conley worked a perfect inning, and Dee Gordon stepped to the plate to lead off the game for the Marlins. Gordon was extremely close with Fernandez and his heartbreak was quite evident, from his reactions at Marlins Park on Sunday to the Instagram post he later made in Fernandez’s memory.

The lefty-swinging Gordon started the plate appearance against Bartolo Colon in the right-handed batter’s box, a tribute to the righty Fernandez. He took a pitch and then moved back to his normal spot. No one was thinking home run. After all, Gordon had not hit one out in 323 plate appearances all year and only had eight dingers in almost 2,300 plate appearances over his career. Even Eric Campbell had better odds of going deep.

Yet that’s exactly what happened. Gordon crushed Colon’s pitch into the second deck and rounded the bases in tears. Giancarlo Stanton embraced him near the on-deck circle. The dugout mobbed him. The crowd went wild. Fans watching from around the globe found their rooms to be a little dusty as well. Just like Piazza’s blast in 2001, this was a moment bigger than the game, just as the Mets’ own Twitter account said after the ball sailed over the fence.

The Braves couldn’t be too mad after Piazza’s homer, and neither could the Mets after Gordon’s homer. It was simply another example of baseball’s remarkable healing power, and it was absolutely beautiful to see.

Just this one time, Mets fans could still crack a smile after the other team scored. In this special case, they understood the feeling.

Photo Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Noah Syndergaard had some of his best stuff working tonight, as he struck out 12 Miami Marlins with only one walk over seven innings. He featured a fastball sitting 98-99 mph, his suddenly trademark slider comfortably sat 93 mph, and his changeup sat 88-90 mph with life.

The fastball was particularly deadly in this outing – Syndergaard commanded the pitch impeccably, and during the first three innings generated seven strikeouts (all swinging), a pop up, and two ground balls while primarily relying on the pitch. The lone base runner during this time was opposing starter Jose Fernandez, who reached on a bobbled ground ball to Neil Walker.

Syndergaard ran into a little trouble in the fourth, as the Marlins suddenly became aggressive on the first pitch. Four straight batters made contact on his first offering, and two (Justin Bour and Derek Dietrich) singled, scoring Miami’s first run. Despite this hiccup, the six batters Thor faced that inning included four groundballs and a swinging strikeout.

He came right back and struck out the side in the fifth, including Dee Gordon for his third straight appearance (Gordon would go on to strike out four times for the first time of his career). Syndergaard would take advantage of two peculiar base-running plays to speed up his final two innings. Christian Yelich oddly attempted a steal of third and was thrown out by Travis d’Arnaud in the sixth. The next inning, Ichiro Suzuki pinch hit with two outs and Derek Dietrich on third. Ichiro legged out an infield hit but Dietrich was immediately thrown out at home – proving once and for all that no one should run on Lucas Duda’s arm.

Syndergaard was dominant despite the lone run he allowed, and benefited from the strong defensive efforts of his infield – namely David Wright and Asdrubal Cabrera.

Offense can’t take advantage of Fernandez’s early inconsistency

Marlins ace Jose Fernandez was inconsistent in the first two innings of the game. He still sat 94-95 mph with the fastball but couldn’t get it over the plate, and then relied too heavily on secondary pitches and got into trouble.

Despite several opportunities, Mets batters only applied limited damage during the 51 pitches it took Fernandez to get through two innings. In the first, Curtis Granderson knocked an unbroken-breaking ball into right field for a lead-off double, followed by a walk of Wright on four pitches (all fastballs). Duda lined a change-up into right field, scoring the Mets’ lone run, but was thrown out advancing to second. Although they loaded the bases the following inning, New York failed to score further runs.

After two tumultuous innings, Fernandez found his groove with a quick third inning. He would not allow a further baserunner, and struck out the side in the fifth. It took 90 pitches for Fernandez to get that far into the game, and the team pulled him. Despite now having four innings to score some insurance against one of the worst bullpens in baseball, little was produced.

Craig Breslow allowed two runners in the sixth, but Michael Conforto grounded into a double play. David Phelps then pitched two no-hit innings while striking three, and closer A.J. Ramos shut the door in the ninth.

Bullpen fights command, loses lead in eighth

Jim Henderson struggled for the first time in his Mets career, throwing a career-high 34 pitches to only four batters. That included a marathon 16-pitch plate appearance against Gordon that lead to an opposite field single on a hanging breaking ball. Henderson then walked Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton while struggling with fastball command, and was pulled for Jerry Blevins with the bases loaded.

Blevins allowed the go-ahead sacrifice fly in a tough situation and was immediately pulled for Addison Reed, who generated the necessary ground ball to end the inning. Due to a short bullpen, Jeurys Familia was still called upon in the ninth. Despite allowing two base runners, he generated three ground balls and a swinging strikeout, and ended the inning.

Up next

Tomorrow is the final game of this three-game series against the Marlins, and the final game of the 2016 opening homestand. Logan Verrett, in place of Jacob deGrom, proud parent of a new son and proud owner of a tight lat muscle, makes his 2016 debut  against Miami left-hander Adam Conley. The Mets look to snap their four-game losing streak, and the afternoon game begins at 1:10 p.m.

Photo credit: Adam Hunger-USA Today Sports