May 13, 2009, Atlanta Braves-New York Mets game story for Metro (NY) Newspaper
Walking away winners
Mets overcome base-running gaffes with late surge
MLB.
Bases loaded. Two outs in a tie game. Full count.
Citi Field was rocking in the bottom of the 10th inning. The hot-as-can-be Carlos Beltran at bat.
No swing was necessary. Atlanta's Jeff Bennett rocked and unleashed a 93 mph fastball. It was low. Ball four.
Bedlam.
Beltran’s game winning walk gave the Mets (18-14) a 4-3 comeback win over the Braves last night. Francisco Rodriguez (1-0) went two innings for the first time since 2006 to earn his first win as a Mets. Beltran finished 2-for-4 with a double and scored a run along with the game winning RBI. Bennett (0-1) took the loss.
Perhaps after this season has been written, the Mets will be able to point at this comeback win as a turning point for the franchise.
For the first time since the 2006 season, the Mets were able to face adversity—mostly self-inflicted—square in the face and not become weak in the knees. Because, to be honest, last night’s win will not be featured on the Tom Emanski videos.
Before the game, Jerry Manuel said that his biggest concern was to have his players understand and execute the kind of baseball he believes they can play.
“I don’t really look at the standings as much now. I’m still trying to get my team in a position where everyone understands what’s expected of them; offensively, defensively, bullpen, starting pitching. I’m not into leading in May. I’m not into that. I’m into getting into a position where, every day that we come to the park, there’s going to be an expectation of a level of play and that we’re going to do it right. That’s kind of my thing,” the manager said.
Conceivably, the four mind-numbing base running blunders the Mets committed last night (two by David Wright, one each by Jose Reyes and Fernando Tatis) were not factored into Manuel’s vision
With one out in the second, Wright was thrown out at second just after Tatis struck out swinging. Trailing 2-0 (Casey Kotchman’s fourth inning single drove in Chipper Jones; Yunel Escobar scored on Garrett Anderson’s sixth inning sac fly) in the seventh and with one out, Wright tripled off of the Modell’s Zone in right field. Tatis popped out to Jordan Schafer in short center. Wright broke for home but Brian McCann blocked the plate and was able get the tag despite an off-the-line throw from Schafer.
After Atlanta had increased its lead to 3-0 in the top of the eighth on a ground rule double by McCann, Reyes doubled to the left field gap with Ryan Church on first and Jeremy Reed on second. Reed and Church scored but Reyes inexplicably tried to advance to third and was thrown out by a wide margin.
“I don’t know what was going through my mind. Stupid base running,” said Reyes with a relieved 100-megawatt smile across his face.
Added Manuel: “Jose was just too excited about the hit, I guess. He knew better. Obviously, he’s one of the best base runners in the game. You probably won’t see that happen again.”
Following Luis Castillo’s ninth-inning sac fly RBI that scored Beltran to tie the game, Tatis was thrown out trying to steal second.
The comeback win and base running gaffes overshadowed a strong performance by Mike Pelfrey. The big right-hander went seven innings, only giving up two runs, scattering six hits and a walk while striking out three. In his last three starts, Pelfrey is 2-0 with a no decision in 19.1 innings. He has a 3.73 ERA in that time frame.
“The name of the game is to make pitches. I felt good. I was able to execute pitches and put the ball where I wanted to,” Pelfrey said. “My tempo was good. I wasn’t taking a lot of time between pitches.”
Three things we saw last night:
1 Beltran to the rescue: Carlos Beltran did it with his bat, his legs and then his eyes. With the Mets trailing, 3-2, the National League’s second-best hitter opened up the ninth with a double. He then successfully stole third, even though a replay showed Chipper Jones got the tag down in time. Luis Castillo brought him home with a sac fly to tie the game. Beltran then earned an RBI in the 10th inning, taking a walk on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded off Jeff Bennett to score Jose Reyes.
2 Quite the duel: If Derek Lowe and Johan Santana was the main event on Monday night then Jair Jurrjens and Mike Pelfrey last night put on one heck of of a undercard matchup last night. The two righties matched each other pitch for pitch. In seven innings, Pelfrey gave up two earned runs on six hits in seven innings. Jurrjens went 7 2/3 innings and gave up six hits, two earned runs and struck out four. Unlike Monday, though, the bullpen, namely J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez shut down Atlanta.
3 Mets almost give it away: For as courageous as Beltran was stealing third in the ninth, the Mets were just as dumb in the previous eight innings. David Wright was thrown out at home and at second base, while Jose Reyes had a major gaffe in the eighth. After driving in two runs on a hit to left field, Reyes rolled through second base and was easily tagged out at third. Had he stayed at second, Reyes would have represented the tying run with just one out.
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 8:13 AM
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