May 14, 2009, Atlanta Braves-New York Mets game story and Carlos Delgado injury story for Metro (NY) Newspaper
No free pass
Mets go to extra's for second straight day but drop this one in the 12th
MLB.
It was almost déjà vu all over again.
Jose Reyes stood at his locker after yesterday's game, just like he had the day before, answering questions about a perceived base running gaffe.
Only unlike Tuesday night, when the shortstop laughed it off, Reyes was defiant.
“It’s a double. I have to take it. How could I get a triple? Nobody could triple because the ball hit the wall and (Anderson) got it right away,” a defensive Reyes said following the Mets’ 8-7 loss in 12 innings.
Leading off the bottom of the 12th, Reyes crushed a Mike Gonzalez fastball off the left field wall for a double. Instead of running hard out of the box, Reyes broke into his home run trot. By the time he reached first, the ball had ricocheted off the wall and was being chased down by Garrett Anderson. It was then that Reyes accelerated and reached second. He moved to third on a Luis Castillo sacrifice bunt, but was stranded there as Carlos Beltran and Gary Sheffield each struck out to end the game.
Jeff Bennett (1-1) went two innings in relief to get the win.
“I think we are going to have to pay close attention to those things and address those things as they happen. In order to be a good team, a speed team, you have to play smart. We’re not playing very smart at the moment,” Jerry Manuel said after the loss. “I thought he thought he hit it a little better than where it landed.”
What galled Manuel about the loss were missed opportunities. And there were opportunities. In the ninth, Reyes and Castillo struck out swinging with Ryan Church on second and one out with the game tied at 7. One inning later, Fernando Tatis grounded into a 6-4-3 inning ending double play in the 10th with the game tied at 7 and runners on first and second.
“We had a chance it seems like each of the last couple innings, except for the 1-2-3 inning (11th) that they put on us. I guess the last inning was a big opportunity for us,” lamented Manuel.
The Mets did display a resilient side that had been lacking in years past. In the bottom half of the first, trailing 2-0 on Chipper Jones’ RBI double and Anderson’s RBI single, Castillo tripled home Reyes. Castillo scored on Gary Sheffield’s 5-4-3 double play to tie the game.
Anderson and Matt Diaz each recorded RBI singles in the third to give the Braves a 4-2 lead. The lead lasted to the fourth when Fernando Tatis—playing first base due to Carlos Delgado’s reoccurring inflamed hip—connected on his second career grand slam.
Noted Mets slayer Jones cut into the lead with a fifth-inning sac fly. Anderson tied the game at six in the seventh with a sac fly of his own. The Braves re-took the lead, 7-6, when second baseman Kelly Johnson ripped a pinch hit double in the eighth. Sheffield tied the game in the bottom of the frame with a line drive solo shot to left field.
The game stayed tied until the 12th when Martin Prado homered off of Ken Takahashi (0-1). Through his interpreter, Takahashi said it was fastball that got too much of the plate.
Jon Niese and Jo-Jo Reyes started the businessman’s special and the duo combined to showcase competent minor league pitching. In three innings plus, Reyes was charged with five runs, four hits and three walks. After 4 2/3 innings worth of seven hit, five earned runs, two walks worth of work, Niese was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.
Three things we saw yesterday:
1 Stranded: The Mets rallied from deficits three different times, but it wasn’t enough. Jose Reyes led off the bottom of the 12th with a double. Typically, that would not be a matter of concern for the Mets, but Reyes failed to run hard out of the box—at his locker, he suggested that he thought it was a homer off the bat—accelerating only after he reached first and the ball rolled away from the wall. “It’s a double. I have to take it,” said a defensive Reyes, who also had a costly base-running blunder in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s win. “How could I get a triple?”
The Mets’ shortstop advanced to third on a Luis Castillo sacrifice, before Carlos Beltran and Gary Sheffield struck out to end it.
2 Teeing off: So much for solid starters. In a stark contrast to the first two games of the series, the Mets and Braves took extended batting practice off of starters Jon Niese and Jo-Jo Reyes. Atlanta’s starter was pulled after three-plus innings with the bases loaded. Fernando Tatis greeted reliever Buddy Carlyle with a grand slam to center field. Reyes gave up four hits, five earned runs and walked three. Neise was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo after he gave up five earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.
3 Tired ’pen: It was an up-and-down performance for the bullpen after Niese was pulled. Seven Mets’ relievers combined for three runs—two earned—on six hits in 7 1/3 innings. However, Bobby Parnell, J.J. Putz and Ken Takahashi all came in with the Mets leading or the game tied. All three times Atlanta scored with Martin Prado’s 12th-inning homer off Takahashi plating the winning run.
Delgado likely headed to DL
MLB.
It looks like Carlos Delgado’s inflamed right hip will land the slugger on the disabled list.
The Mets’ first baseman did not play in yesterday’s 8-7 loss to the Braves and has missed three straight contests. Delgado also sat out the April 27-29 home series with Florida and the May 1 game in Philadelphia because of the injury.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel said that any decision about a stint on the DL will be made tomorrow when the team opens up a series in San Francisco.
“I’m not confident at all. I don’t want to be a pessimist, but because of the reoccurrence, I’m not confident that he’ll be OK,” Manuel said. “If it’s something that we can manage, which is what we’re trying to do, then I’m OK with that.”
If the decision is made to DL Delgado, Manuel has options. Fernando Tatis played very well at first base during the Atlanta series, while Daniel Murphy fielded ground balls at first before yesterday’s game. Manuel also suggested Alex Cora as an option to fill the hole.
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 9:05 AM
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