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June 29, 2008
Subway nuggets
ANYONE SEEN A CARLOS? – The Mets fourth and fifth hitters were a combined 0-for-8 against the Yankees Saturday, with Carlos Beltran having a particularly bad day at the plate with four strikeouts.
Carlos Delgado also went 0-for-4 batting fifth, but only struck out once and is 0-for-6 with no RBIs since his 9-RBI outburst in Game 1 of Friday’s doubleheader. .
Beltran said the team is not in panic mode despite the lack of runs recently, or the inconsistent play of the offense all season.
“It seems like every ay the game surprises you in different ways,” he said. “No we don’t feel mentally like we are trying to do too much. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t.”
The Mets’ center fielder has a simple solution for the offense, too.
“Get on base, that’s what we need to do,” Beltran added. “That’s been our problem all year.”
HAVING YOUR BACK – Andy Pettitte has been around long enough with the Yankees to know you can just about take a victory to the bank when closer Mariano Rivera comes in to finish a game.
Rivera pitched a perfect ninth inning Saturday to record his 22nd in 22 chances this season.
“He’s just great – you can’t say enough about what he does,” Pettitte said.
And no, the Shea Stadium PA did not play “Enter Sandman” before Rivera took the mound in the ninth. At that stadium the song belongs to Mets’ closer Billy Wagner.
TURNING THE TIDES – Both Pettitte and manager Joe Girardi agreed the pickoff of Jose Reyes at second base to end the fifth inning was the key to a Yankees’ win.
With Reyes on second and Damion Easley on first, David Wright was at the plate with a 0-1 count when Pettitte caught Reyes napping at second base. Pettitte tossed the ball to Robinson Cano at second to catch Reyes, who had strayed to far off the bag and slipped trying to get back, for the third out.
"No doubt, that was a big part of the game for me,” Pettitte said. “With David Wright up, especially right now in their lineup, he's the guy you worry about, for sure. He seems to be swinging the bat really well right now. That was big."
“That was huge,” Girardi added. “That might have been the turning point of the game. It got Andy out of a jam.”
NO WAY JOSE – Manuel said he would not try to tame Reyes’ aggressiveness on the base path, but would like the young shortstop to be a little more intelligent out there.
“He has to be a little more careful,” Manuel said. “I don’t want to stop his aggressiveness but at the same time he has to be smarter.”
THE COMPANY LINE – Johan Santana summed up the mood of the Mets’ clubhouse after the game.
“We just have to keep battling and hopefully at some point we will turn it around,” he said.
At 39-40, the Mets once again find themselves under .500 for the season.
Posted by Bill on June 29, 2008 1:02 AM
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