MET NOTES
SAN DIEGO – The Mets have been playing ball since 1962, but they’ve never had a player lead the National League in stolen bases. Over the next eight weeks, though, Jose Reyes has a decent shot at changing that.
Entering last night’s action, Reyes was trailing Florida’s Juan Pierre by one stolen base for the NL lead. Pierre had 38 steals to Reyes’ 37, though Reyes actually has stolen at a better rate – he has been caught nine times to Pierre’s 11. Both the Mets and Marlins had played 111 games, so neither Pierre nor Reyes has an edge in terms of games remaining.
Reyes’ 37 steals are already more than any Met has gotten since Roger Cedeno swiped a franchise-best 66 bases in 1999. That year, Cedeno didn’t top the NL, though, as Tony Womack (then with the Diamondbacks) paced the NL with 72.
Reyes is on pace for 54 steals this season, which would tie Mookie Wilson’s 1983 total for third-most in Mets history.
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Mets were expected to activate Kazuo Matsui from the disabled list before last night’s game. The second baseman has been out since June 17 with a bruised left knee.
Lately, Miguel Cairo has been getting the bulk of the starts at second base, having started the last 12 games there entering last night. In those 12 games, he’s hit .327 (16-for-49), raising his average 14 points to .279.
“When I signed here [Willie Randolph] told me that he’s going to give me a lot of playing time,” Cairo said over the weekend. “Right now, I cannot complain. I’ve been playing a lot, and it was a bad thing Kaz got injured. But I’m just happy I’ve been getting my at-bats and I’m happy to do it. That’s what they told me and he kept his word, which is nice.”
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Oddly, the Mets swept the Cubs this past weekend despite the fact that they managed a total of only two extra base hits in the three games. David Wright doubled on Saturday and Cliff Floyd homered on Sunday. The other 26 Met hits were singles . . . In his last 12 games entering last night, Mike Cameron had drawn only two walks and struck out 17 times.
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Pitching matchups for the rest of the Padres series: tonight, Kris Benson (7-4, 3.72 ERA) vs. RHP Brian Lawrence (6-11, 4.43); tomorrow, Tom Glavine (8-9, 4.50) vs. RHP Woody Williams (5-8, 5.16). – Additional reporting by Evan Grossman.
Road woes (m,s)
Going into last night’s game at San Diego, Willie randolph’s Mets had the fifth worst road record in the National League. Here’s how they stacked up:
Rockies 14-42 .250
Reds 18-33 .353
Pirates 21-34 .382
Astros 24-36 .400
Mets 21-31 .404
Dodgers 24-34 .414
Brewers 26-36 .419
Phillies 22-29 .431
Nationals 24-31 .436
Giants 23-29 .442
Padres 26-32 .448
Cubs 27-31 .466
