Wright’s Winning Wheels

I love a good ending, even at 1:30 in the morning. It was a wet and rainy night in New York but I was soothed by the colorful commentary of Mets-Giants baseball live from the west coast. The Mets were as aggressive as they’ve ever been on the bases. New York paraded the bags and ran for a franchise record seven swipes. The legs pumped posh after a string of base running blunders leading up to Thursday night. David Wright stole four bases on his own, tying the club record for a single game. David decorated San Francisco’s infield with his number five jersey and leather spikes. San Francisco pitchers were slow to the plate, average 1.3 seconds, and the Mets took full advantage. The Giants couldn’t chase Wright down nor could they prevent him from drilling the game winning RBI single in the top of the ninth. His tie breaking dart gave the Mets a 7-4 victory over the Giants on early Friday morning. It was David’s third hit of the night and second run driven in. Wright is hitting .400 in his last 16 games and the Mets have a two game lead in the NL East over the Phillies.
The Mets embarked on a 10 game road trip Thursday playing shorthanded. The shuffled lineup was without sluggers, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes. Delgado is out with an injured hip and could land on the DL by Sunday. Reyes was scratched with a stiff calf but is expected back tonight in the second game of the series. J.J. Putz was unavailable for Jerry Manuel out of the bullpen because of an inflamed elbow. Even without three of their prominent players, New York won their ninth game in past eleven chances. The Giants dropped their second consecutive game at home for the first time in 2009. They also could be without Edgar Renteria after the infielder strained his hamstring in the 8th inning.
Gary Sheffield muscled a single in the first inning, scoring shortstop Alex Cora for the game’s first run. The Mets grabbed the early lead and it signaled the first run allowed by starter, Jonathan Sanchez at home this season. Sanchez came into Thursday’s game off one of his worst performances. He matched a season high five runs allowed in a shutout loss to the Dodgers Saturday. The left-hander had not reached the sixth inning in his last three starts. John Maine started on the mound for the Mets and was anything but encouraging in the bottom of the first. He tossed thirty pitches, only 13 for strikes. After acquiring a one-run lead, Maine threw two wild pitches and walked two batters in the inning. Bengie Molina, the burly backstop, fisted a single to center, allowing Giants second baseman, Emmanuel Burriss to score for the first and tying run. It was Molina’s 29th RBI of the year. Right fielder, Randy Winn, hit a sacrifice fly to left center to knock third baseman, Pablo Sandoval in and give the Giants an early 2-1 lead. Maine settled down from there, pitching 6 2/3 solid innings of two run ball. He worked into the 7th before Manuel summoned Brian Stokes from the bullpen. I thought Manuel would have pulled the plug on Maine earlier because John was a bit shaky in the 6th. It was nice to see him stay in the game and fight his way through. Maine was denied the win but was durable and productive overall. He has not gone over six innings at all this year so it was definitely an improvement for the right-hander. Stokes quickly disposed of the Giants with a two pitch punch out for the final out of the inning and the Mets with a 4-2 lead.
The Mets scored in the third inning on a Wright single. Sheffield doubled and strode in on a Sanchez wild pitch in the same frame. Wright stole second on the miscue. Mets catcher, Ramon Castro, had two RBIs on the night. He scored in the fourth inning on Luis Castillo’s double play groundout.
The Mets were playing from behind early in the game. They were able to form a manageable lead by playing small ball and getting quality starting pitching. There were a few opportunities again for New York to increase the lead and put the game out of reach. The Mets were unable to strike a run against San Francisco reliever, Brandon Medders. But injuries notwithstanding, the lineup was in tune and clicking on all cylinders. Neither team would cross the plate again until the 8th inning. In the bottom half for San Francisco, reliever Bobby Parnell, gave up RBI hits to Jose Uribe and Renteria. Fred Lewis and Aaron Rowand scuttled home to even the score at four. Parnell was subbing for the injured Putz as the New York 8th inning setup man. Parnell’s three outs came on a swinging strikeout of veteran pinch hitter, Rich Aurilia, Travis Ishikawa sacrifice back to the mound and a Sandoval groundout. He won the game absorbing a blown save and surrendering 2 runs on 3 hits. Parnell is now 2-0 on the year.
The Mets responded in the top of the ninth against San Francisco closer, Brian Wilson. Reyes replacement, Cora, grounded out to third before Carlos Beltran doubled to deep centerfield. It was Beltran’s second hit of the game. He excelled in last year’s final series against the Giants, hitting .333 with a homer and 8 RBIs. Carlos continues to tear up the league this year and will likely have as much success against the NL West foe this trip. The centerfielder collected his fifth stolen base during the ninth when he stole third. Sheffield induced a walk out of Wilson to put runners at the corners for Wright with one out. David has not come through in these situations as of late. A simple sacrifice fly would score the go-ahead run. Instead, Wright singled to right and the runners advanced. With a 5-4 lead now, Sheffield and Wright managed a double steal to give the team a record seven thefts and three during the inning. First baseman, Fernando Tatis, grounded out to second base for the Mets’ second out. Then, Castro lined the ball to right field to clear the bases for a three run Mets lead. Ryan Church grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 10 opportunities this year. The flamethrower gave up a leadoff double to Molina but retired the next three Giants in order. The Mets beat the home team that only lost 5 of 17 at AT &T Park this year. For San Francisco, Sanchez went 5 2/3 innings, allowing nine hits, four runs and three walks. He struck out three batters. Maine both struck out and walked four on the night. San Francisco was scrappy in accumulating hits off Maine, with none being convincing, crashing clunkers. The Mets miffed one throw and a Cora error at shortstop and the Giants were perfect in the field. Defensively, I considered Wright’s 8th inning grab off the bat of Sandoval a game-saver. The ball was fielded crisply and accurately to secure the tie ball game and deter more Giants from scoring. Intuitive Wright hammered the ball, flew around the bases and provided clutch offense and defense all night. Gone is Wright’s apprehensive swing and premature write-off season. The middle of the Mets lineup did well without Delgado, slapping seven hits. Daniel Murphy is lost at the plate, striking out last night while being fooled on a fastball he mistook for a breaker. Murphy is a smart hitter and seems stressful when he slips. I would like to see him move to first base if Delgado has to spend an extensive time on the disabled list. Murphy is a natural infielder and perhaps playing a familiar and comfortable position would translate well to the plate. He still has the training wheels on defensively and needs to work vastly on improving his sense in the outfield if he remains there.
The seven stolen bases are the story of the night. Cora, Beltran and Sheffield pilfered three. Wright’s four tied a record accomplished twice in New York history by Vince Coleman and Roger Cedeno. David reached base in all five plate appearances and raised his batting average to .331. Wright is slugging .524 against lefties this year and seems to have finally found himself again.

Parting points: May 15th baseball notables-according to http://www.thebaseballpage.com

On May 15, 1973, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels hurls the first of his seven career no-hitters. Ryan strikes out 12 batters on his way to a 3-0 victory over Kansas City.

On May 15, 1941, Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees starts his record-setting 56-game hitting streak by collecting a single in four at-bats against the Chicago White Sox.

On May 15, 1935, future Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig steals home during the New York Yankees’ 4-0 victory. The run-scoring steal is the last of Gehrig’s 15 career stolen bases of home plate, all of which come as part of double steals.