It had all the makings of a dark Mets day.
Jose Reyes was back at Citi Field in a different uniform, bringing back memories of what was and what could have been along with fresh thoughts about what isn't this season. That would have been enough to set the scene for tears all by itself.
The Mets decided to double down on the bad feelings, though. Before the game started, they announced that Jason Bay (broken ribs) and Mike Pelfrey (elbow) were headed to the disabled list, stretching the depth of a thin organization a bit more than anyone would like.
Bay isn't a guy anyone will miss all that much, although his modest 776 OPS is better than what he did in his first two seasons. Pelfrey's coming off his best start of the year, though, and the notion of a serious elbow injury -- there's talk of Tommy John surgery -- is a painful one because of what it does to the rotation and what it would do to the possibility of dealing him at the deadline ahead of free agency this offseason.
The only thing that could have made the night worse was if Johan Santana gave up three homers to Reyes and then broke his foot kicking the dugout wall in disgust. That didn't happen and the Mets actually put a happy face on things with a 2-1 win.
Santana was very good, striking out 11 and allowing just three hits in 6.2 innings of work, and Reyes went 0-for-4 while gradually hearing more boos from a crowd that greeted him warmly. Santana left with a no-decision thanks to the Mets' inability to hit Josh Johnson and their inability to complete a relay play to get Giancarlo Stanton at the plate in the seventh inning.
The Mets did rally in the bottom of that inning, though, as the Marlins bullpen made a mockery of things. Ozzie Guillen went to three different relievers after Johnson walked Lucas Duda with two outs and all three relievers walked the first batter they faced to tie the game.
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If not for his early season troubles for comments about Fidel Castro, it would probably have been enough for Guillen to openly wonder about how wonderful it would be to live in a country that supported summary executions. Duda did his best to play executioner with two on and two out in the eighth, lining a ball off of reliever Edward Mujica to plate the winning run and knock Mujica out of the game.
Frank Francisco closed things out, a nice change from his recent struggles, and the Mets got to shake hands at the end of a longer day than they probably would have liked. The injuries give every thing a dark tinge and Ike Davis, pinch hit for by Justin Turner, looks more lost than ever, but no reason to rain on a parade too much.
The Mets welcomed Jose Reyes back as a loser and that's pretty good for one night's work.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.
