SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball evidently doesn’t do the cha-cha.
After seven scintillating starts this season, the veteran righty last night finally appeared mortal, finding no adjustment that could save him in the Mets’ 10-3 loss to the Marlins before a sellout crowd of 18,073 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
For all the fanfare about the first major league game in Puerto Rico in six years, the Mets simply didn’t come to play. Jose Reyes was a mess defensively and on the bases and Dickey’s pitches wore a bull’s-eye during a four-run third inning for the Marlins.
“I had a fairly good knuckleball — it could have been real different tonight,” said Dickey, who didn’t allow a hit in his other four innings pitched. “Sometimes that’s just the way the ball bounces, literally.”
Dickey (6-1) lasted five innings before Fernando Nieve surrendered a solo homer to Cody Ross in the sixth and one to Chris Coghlan in the seventh.
With the Mets already on life support in the eighth, Marlins rookie Mike Stanton slugged a three-run homer against Ryota Igarashi to provide the final margin of defeat.
Jason Bay provided the only comfort food for the Mets with two home runs that accounted for the team’s scoring.
With music blaring before the game and a carnival atmosphere throughout, this was certainly no ordinary game.
“The guys that are from here really enjoyed it,” David Wright said. “The look on their faces . . . and the fans get into it — it’s a cool experience.”
The Mets (43-33) started their seven-game road trip inauspiciously, falling 11⁄2 games behind the Braves in the NL East.
Reyes was picked off first base by catcher Ronny Paulino in the first inning and later botched two grounders, one of which was ruled an error. Manager Jerry Manuel said the unfamiliarity of playing on artificial turf was a factor, but Reyes blamed himself.
“I don’t want to [make] any excuses,” Reyes said. “I have to make those plays.”
The Mets have fared nicely at home against the Marlins this season, with four victories in six games. But away from Citi Field, the Mets are now 0-5 against Florida. That included a Marlins’ four-game sweep in Miami last month that left Manuel squarely on the hot seat.
The Marlins battered Dickey in the third inning last night, using five hits to score four runs and take a 5-1 lead. Gaby Sanchez’s two-run double and Hanley Ramirez’s RBI double got the inning rolling before Ross stroked an RBI single off Reyes’ glove — nearly the shortstop’s second error of the game — to complete the scoring.
Bay’s first homer in 21⁄2 weeks pulled the Mets to 1-1 against Ricky Nolasco (7-6) in the second. Bay then hit a two-run shot against Nolasco in the seventh. Both homers cleared the right-field fence.
“Some places you hit the ball to right field and you don’t get rewarded, all of a sudden you get frustrated,” Bay said. “To have two balls go out that way kind of helped reinforce that what you’re doing is right.”
The Marlins parlayed Coghlan’s walk and stolen base in the first inning into a run. Sanchez bunted Coghlan to third before Reyes booted Ramirez’s grounder to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead.
Reyes’ bad night started in the top of the inning, when he drilled a leadoff single and was subsequently picked off first base on a snap throw from Paulino.
“You could sense that our players wanted to show the world they are a good team,” Manuel said. “You have to remain in character. That’s something we didn’t do.”