WHAT IT MEANS: Jeurys Familia had a wild time in his first major league start. Familia surrendered just one hit in four scoreless innings, but he walked six batters -- the most by a Mets pitcher this season. Only 33 of his 75 pitches were strikes.

Ultimately, Rob Brantly delivered a tie-breaking RBI double against Ramon Ramirez in the eighth as the Miami Marlins beat the Mets, 3-2, Monday night at Marlins Park.

David Wright’s RBI single in the fifth scored Ronny Cedeno, who pinch hit for Familia and reached on an error, and gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. Pinch hitter Mike Baxter delivered an RBI double an inning later.

Miami pulled within 2-1 in the sixth on Giancarlo Stanton’s homer against Manny Acosta. Jose Reyes produced a game-tying sacrifice fly against Jon Rauch a half-inning later.

Control issues also hindered Familia while working as a starter in the minors this season. He walked 73 in 137 innings while compiling a 4.73 ERA in 28 starts at Triple-A Buffalo.

Familia will work as a reliever in winter ball in the Dominican Republic, which the rookie requested. Terry Collins believes Familia -- whose primary pitches are a sinker and slider -- senses his best chance to make the 2013 Opening Day roster is by working out of the bullpen as a power arm.

"The other day we talked in the outfield about this winter, and he wants to pitch out of the bullpen in winter ball," Collins said. "... I think he likes to relieve. He's a big, strong guy. He's a durable guy. I think he can bounce back and go two, three, four days in a row -- especially if it's just one inning at a time, maybe to come in and get a hitter. I think he does sense that would be the fastest way to the bigs."

WHAT’S NEXT: R.A. Dickey bids to become the Mets’ first 21-game winner since Dwight Gooden went 24-4 in 1985. The knuckleballer opposes rookie right-hander Jacob Turner (1-4, 3.86) on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. Adam Greenberg, who was hit in the head in his lone major league plate appearance back in 2005, is due to pinch hit for the Marlins in the middle innings of the game.