MET NOTES
PHILADELPHIA – Jose Valentin’s second hit of the day caused a problem.
The Mets second baseman suffered a right hamstring strain – the team characterized it as “slight” – yesterday in the fifth inning of a 7-2 win over the Phillies and had to leave the game.
Valentin, who has been one of the Mets’ most impressive contributors, said he began ailing when he was nearing first base after singling in the fifth inning. He stayed in for the rest of the inning, but was replaced by Chris Woodward before the bottom of the fifth.
“I don’t know,” Valentin said when asked how long he’d be out. “It doesn’t feel that bad. But it’s a little tight on it, and I came in, and I was doing some exercises. They always do some exercises to make sure, see how strong the muscle is and everything was perfect. [I didn’t] even feel [anything].”
Valentin said he believed “it’s more like dehydrated than anything else,” and said “hopefully” he would be day-to-day instead needed to go on the disabled list.
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With Pedro Martinez on the DL, the Mets did not name a starter yet for tomorrow’s second game of a three-game series against the Rockies at Shea, but Willie Randolph said the pitcher probably will come from Triple-A Norfolk.
“It’s going to probably be either [Dave] Williams or [Oliver] Perez, and Williams probably is throwing better, a little better than Perez,” Randolph said. ” ‘Cause Perez just got there [to Norfolk]. He’s just trying to get himself together, so I think Williams probably has been in more of a routine. So I’m not sure yet, but he might be the frontrunner there. We’ll see. But those are really the only two guys we have lined up.”
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The Mets had a few statistical accomplishments in yesterday’s game. Carlos Beltran‘s homer was his 34th overall, but his 23rd on the road this season, matching Howard Johnson‘s 1987 team mark.
Jose Reyes swiped his 50th base of the season in the second inning. He has stolen 50 bases twice, only the second Met to ever do it (Mookie Wilson was the first in 1982 and 1983). Reyes had 60 thefts last season.
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David Wright wore his socks high yesterday, calling them “rally pants,” but although the Mets won, it could have been just a one-day individual trend. Wright went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and has one hit in his last 13 at-bats . . . The attendance yesterday was 45,775, which was the highest in the three-year history of Citizens Bank Park.
