I kind of went into panic mode there…. I just messed up.

– Justin Turner.

The ellipsis there replaces Turner detailing the plan the infielders discussed before the fateful play in the Mets’ 4-3 loss to the Marlins on Tuesday: Throw to second on a hard-hit grounder or to home plate on a soft one.

When the ball found his glove, Turner did neither of those things. Instead he moved to tag baserunner John Buck between first and second, then froze when Buck froze, then threw the ball in the general direction of but nowhere actually near first base. Turner described it best: Panic mode.

It happens to the best of us. Only when I go into panic mode, I scramble onto the express train when I need the local or order something I’ll regret at a restaurant because the waitress is standing there and I haven’t really thought about what I want but I need to pick something now since who knows when she’ll be back and aw, screw it, “Fajitas,” BUT I DON’T EVEN REALLY LIKE FAJITAS!

The downside to playing baseball professionally is that when you enter panic mode, thousands of people see it, then you have to tell them about it afterward. The upside is just about everything else.

These things happen. Again. Three straight gut-punch last-inning losses. Say what you will about the 2011 Mets, they’re not boring.