MET NOTES
When watching at home sometimes fans don’t get the whole picture about what’s going on in the game. Sometimes the same can happen from the dugout.
After Game 2 of last night’s doubleheader sweep by the Mets, Brewer manager Phil Garner had to apologize for publicly ripping ex-Met Alex Ochoa and calling him an embarrassment to the game.
After Game 1 Garner said Ochoa didn’t hustle home with the potential tying run in the ninth inning and it cost his team the game.
“It’s embarrassing for our game,” Garner said before realizing his mistake. “A big league player runs balls out. Unfortunately we’ve gotten into this bad habit somewhere in our game where some guys don’t. That game might end up costing us the pennant. You don’t know.
“There’s no earthly reason not to run, unless you’re hurt, and I don’t think he’s hurt.”
He wasn’t hurt, but he did lose his shoe rounding third base. When Garner found out he retracted everything and apologized.
With Marquis Grissom on second and Ochoa at first and two men out, Berry hit a bloop off John Franco that handcuffed Edgardo Alfonzo in shallow center. Grissom scored easily to make it 11-10, but Ochoa was jogging and Roger Cedeno picked up the ball and fired home to Mike Piazza. The catcher took a couple of steps up the third base line to tag Ochoa for the final out of the game.
The former Met who played here from 1995-97, didn’t even have a chance to slide and said he didn’t charge Piazza because without his shoe he had no momentum.
Perhaps still agitated over it, Garner was tossed in the second inning of Game 2 for arguing with home plate umpire Hunter Wendlestedt.
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Al Leiter was limping slightly after taking a ball off his left foot in Game 1. He said he was fine, though. Leiter gave up five earned runs in five innings, which means that in his last four outings he has given up 24 runs in 22 innings for an ERA of 9.82.
Benny Agbayani is 10 for his last 13.
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Rickey Henderson was not activated from the disabled list yesterday because his sore right hamstring was not pronounced fully healthy.
Greg McMichael (shoulder) will throw a couple of simulated innings today and again on Monday and if all goes well, which it has so far, he will go on a minor league rehabilitation assignment next Wednesday or Thursday. He will probably go to Double-A Bingamton.
