In a fourth-inning collision at the plate last night, Arizona’s Jay Bell gave catcher Mike Piazza his best shot, a forearm shiver that sent both sprawling but failed to dislodge the ball. But in the 10th inning, with the game on the line, Bell helped land the Diamondbacks’ knockout punch – a double that sparked a three-run inning and a 5-1 win.
Bell tagged reliever Rick White’s belt-high pitch to left-center with one out, and Luis Gonzalez followed by stroking the first pitch he saw over Jay Payton’s head in center. The first time Bell came home, he’d had a teeth-rattling collision; but this time he trotted home unopposed and slowed to a walk with what proved the game-winner.
“The way the Mets have played against us, it was nice to come in here and win a game like that,” said Bell, who helped Arizona snap its six-game losing streak at Shea with his big hit. The hit being the double, not the lick he laid on Piazza in the fourth.
Bell had led off the inning with a triple off the wall in center field, and Gonzalez drove the ball to center for what seemed a sure sacrifice fly. Bell tagged up and sprinted home; but Payton’s throw home was strong and on the mark. Piazza took it on a single hop, and blocked the plate.
The 6-foot, 184-pound Bell tried to bulldoze the 215-pound Piazza, bringing his right forearm up into Piazza’s face, running him over and sending both sprawling in the dirt. Piazza ended up on his derriere in a cloud of dust, but held onto the ball.
“The collision at the plate, I’m not sure how much it hurt him. It hurt me a little bit. He’s got me by about 60 pounds,” Bell grimaced. “I’m not surprised (he held on). He caught it about a stride away. It was the only option I had. I could’ve slid and he woulda dropped the shinguards on me. I wanted to score the run; that’s how I felt I needed to score it.”
Still, Bell did check on Piazza’s health. When Piazza singled in the bottom of the inning and went to second on a Todd Zeile walk, Bell walked over and asked him how he was.
“I asked him if he was OK. I’ve played against Mike for seven years now. We’re competitors on the field, but we’re friendly on and off it. You’re worried about somebody’s well-being.”
