Mets8 – Phillies 3
The Mets really wanted to get David Wright a base hit yesterday, and the umpires obliged.
The hardy 8,766 who walked through the turnstiles for the matinee makeup game against Philly saw something pretty unique – a ball the slumping Wright smacked down the third-base line was changed from foul to fair after the fact, and it kept a six-run third inning rolling. The Mets won the series finale, 8-3, to jump a season-high 15 ½ games up in the NL East after another break in a season chock full of them.
“That’s the way it goes right now. Don’t question it,” Billy Wagner said after pitching the final inning of the Mets’ 8-1 homestand, tied for their third best in franchise history.
The game’s “you had to see it” play occurred with three runs already in against Philly lefty Jamie Moyer. Wright – in a 2-for-26 skid at the time – hit a one-hopper that appeared to bounce foul just before the third-base bag and spin toward the stands.
The initial replay appeared to indicate the ball was correctly ruled foul. But third base coach Manny Acta immediately argued the ball kicked off the bag and should have been fair, and manager Willie Randolph also argued.
“It was one of those that I definitely needed,” Wright said later. Calls are usually reversed only when the ball travels over an outfield fence and thus can easily be changed into a home run. The press box veterans at Shea couldn’t remember a ball in play being changed from foul to fair, and neither could any of the Mets. At any rate, plate umpire Angel Hernandez conferred with third base ump Randy Marsh and the other men in blue, and they decided the ball was fair.
“I took my eye off it, which was wrong,” Marsh said. “It was my fault.
“We’re trying to get the call correct. I’m not too proud we had to get together in this situation, but I wanted to do what was right for the game.”
Naturally, Philly manager Charlie Manuel blew a gasket and was ejected for the second time in three games.
“That’s when I kind of knew when I had a hit,” Wright said with a laugh.
Wright took first with an RBI single, although he joked that he “wanted to get greedy and go back for a double.”
The Mets added two more runs that inning to stake John Maine (4-3) – who notched a quality start by allowing two runs over 6 1/3 innings – to a 6-0 bulge. Earlier, with runners at first and second and one out in the first, Maine retired Philly slugger Ryan Howard on a deep flyout to the track in left-center and emerged unscathed.
“He just happened to hit it in the wrong spot,” Maine said. “Good spot for me.”
Maine has four wins and three no-decisions in his last seven starts, all Mets wins. Met killer Pat Burrell touched Maine for a two-run homer in the fourth, and Howard hit a solo bomb off Guillermo Mota in the eighth.
The Mets (80-49) made their breaks to start the third. Endy Chavez singled to left, and the Phils couldn’t make plays on bunts by Maine and Jose Reyes designed to sacrifice.
“That’s part of our arsenal,” Willie Randolph said. “We can hit you a lot of different ways.”
With the bases loaded, Paul Lo Duca ripped an RBI single to right. Carlos Delgado managed a two-run single up the middle and off second baseman Chase Utley’s glove, bringing Wright to the plate. Beyond the gift, Wright ripped a sacrifice fly liner to left in the seventh.
