NY benched outfielder Jay Bruce from the starting lineup for the second straight game, hoping the mental break will spark an end to his slump.
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Yanked for a guy who hadn’t gotten a hit in the majors since May and was batting.159, at that.
The Braves took the opener to this set 7-3 on Monday, and in Tuesday’s game, Atlanta eked out a 5-4 win.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever been pinch-hit for”.
“I think players are very vicious in this way”, the former All-Star said. But he’s the manager and I respect his decision.
The Mets lost to last-place Atlanta for the second straight day. The Mets entered the night tied with the Giants for the top wild-card spot, a half-game ahead of the Cardinals.
Bruce ranks among the NL leaders with 29 home runs and 91 RBI but has struggled mightily since the Mets got him August 1 from the Reds for two young players.
“… The market, as you know, this is not Cincinnati”.
In the Mets’ view, after they had blown a three-run lead and suffered a 4-3 loss, if the sky really was falling, Inciarte would have been there to grab any silver lining out of a cloud. Bruce pinch hit in the ninth inning and flied out. “It just erupted. I don’t think you could have won the World Series and had a bigger explosion than that right there”. “But, when we’re scoring eight an inning, or six an inning, not sure which one it was, but I’ll definitely take that any day”.
“I actually came back up in the tunnel here and threw a little bit with Josh Thole trying to keep my arm loose”, Happ said.
“They are big (games) for us – that’s why we’re going out there to win, not to show up”, Snitker said. Frustrating. The main thing is that I haven’t played well, but the silver lining in that is the team has played well.
Rene Rivera, who has supplanted Travis d’Arnaud as the starting catcher, extended the Mets’ lead to 3-0 by crushing a solo shot to left-center off Weber in the fifth. Collins countered by pinch hitting Eric Campbell – a career.221 hitter – for Bruce. Familia said, “Everybody knows baseball is a insane game”. I know he’s struggled with lefties. But I’m hesitant about labeling him THE reason the Mets are still competing.
“He’s always had the ability and always the chances to go out and play”, Collins said about Bruce. “And as I told him, this is a different situation here”.
These stretch of games can be won against the Braves and Phillies who are fighting for nothing but pride.
Season-long nemesis Julio Teheran once again mystified the Mets, tossing seven innings of one-run ball on five hits and retiring 15 of the final 16 batters he faced.
Not the start the New York Mets were expecting from the pitcher they lined up to start in the NL wild-card game.
LESTER SHAKES IT OFF: Joey Votto’s hard-hit comebacker struck Jon Lester and ricocheted toward first as the left-hander doubled over.
Markakis did draw a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning to give the Braves the lead for good. Granderson and Bruce both backed off at the last moment and the ball fell for a single, giving Kemp his 100th RBI. Each time he now steps up to the plate at Citi Field, there will be boos ringing in and around the stadium – especially when there is a miss that accompanies each swing. “I didn’t and by the time I pulled up it was too late”, Granderson said. He last did it in 2011 with Cleveland. Flores has been sidelined since September 10, when he was injured in a home-plate collision at Atlanta.
Wilmer Flores received a second cortisone injection in his bothersome right wrist to help alleviate discomfort caused by a bone bruise. Collins hopes for a speedy return. The Royals went 14-5 against the White Sox this year.
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Mets: RHP Bartolo Colon (14-7, 3.14) leads the team in wins.
