08/23/2002
Ninth-inning rally ends Mets' skid at 12 games
Timo Perez entered the game soon enough to help the New York Mets snap their long losing streak.
 Timo Perez, left, had seen enough of losing. His ninth-inning HR ended the Mets' skid. |
Perez, a fifth inning insertion for Roger Cedeno, hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning as New York snapped a 12-game skid by beating the Colorado Rockies 5-2 Saturday night.
With the Rockies leading 2-1, closer Jose Jimenez (2-9) retired the first two men in the ninth before Joe McEwing hit a single past third. Perez then hit a 1-1 pitch into the Colorado bullpen in right for his seventh homer of the season.
The Mets, who had been 0-60 this year when trailing after eight innings, avoided matching the third longest losing streak in team history. They also lost 13 straight in 1980. The franchise record is 17 consecutive losses in the expansion 1962 season.
David Weathers (5-3) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the victory. Armando Benitez got three outs for his 28th save in 31 chances, retiring Jay Payton with the bases loaded to end it.
Mike Hampton limited his former team to one run and six hits in seven innings. Hampton won the NLCS MVP in 2000 as he helped lead the Mets to the World Series before leaving to sign a $121 million, eight-year contract with the Rockies.
Mets 1B Mo Vaughn had two errors on misplayed grounders in the first and third innings.
08/23/2002
Mets' losing streak longest in 22 years
Jay Payton tormented his former team Friday night, the same thing he's been doing to just about every other opponent since coming to the Colorado Rockies in a trade with the New York Mets on July 31.
Payton homered and drove in four runs as the Rockies handed the Mets their 12th straight loss, 10-4.
In 20 games with the Rockies, Payton is hitting .413 with five homers and 19 RBI.
It is the Mets' sixth-longest losing streak in franchise history and the longest in 22 years, since they dropped 13 in a row from Aug. 31-Sept. 12, 1980.
Pedro Astacio (11-7), who played for Colorado from 1997-2001, allowed seven runs -- six earned -- and eight hits in five innings.
In his last two outings, Pedro Astacio has allowed 20 hits and 15 runs -- 14 earned -- in eight innings.
Doubleday sells off rest of his stake in Mets
Fred Wilpon completed his buyout of Mets co-owner Nelson Doubleday on Friday, ending their acrimonious partnership after 16 years.
Wilpon sued Doubleday in July, trying to force a buyout at the price set by an appraiser. Doubleday countered with accusations of misconduct between commissioner Bud Selig and the appraiser. The sides settled last week.
Under the original appraisal, Doubleday would have received $137.9 million -- half the team's $391 million value after accounting for debt. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, although Doubleday likely will receive more than he would have under the original appraisal.
Wilpon's spokesman, Richard Auletta, said Wilpon and his Sterling Equities partners were now the owners of the team. Auletta said the partners, who have invested in Wilpon's real estate business, will be disclosed shortly.
Doubleday & Co., the publishing house, bought the Mets in 1980 from the family of founding owner Joan Payson for $21.1 million, with the company owning 95 percent of the team and Wilpon owning 5 percent.
When Doubleday & Co. was sold to Bertelsmann AG in 1986, the publisher sold its shares of the team for $80.75 million to Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, who became 50-50 owners.
08/22/2002
Mets' 11-game skid their longest since 1991
Ryan Jensen pitched six strong innings to win for the first time in eight starts and the San Francisco Giants extended the Mets' longest losing streak since 1991 to 11 games with a 3-1 victory Thursday.
"You feel like something is going to go wrong all the time,'' Mets first baseman Mo Vaughn said while eating a bucket of wings. "It's not easy, but it's part of the job. There's no feeling sorry for ourselves.''
The Mets have dropped 16 of 19 overall to fall into last place in the NL East. They are on their longest losing streak since also losing 11 straight Aug. 9-21, 1991.
The Mets are 3-17 in August. Their worst month ever was a 4-25 mark in July 1963.
08/21/2002
Rueter shuts down slumping Mets
While the San Francisco Giants are getting some of their best pitching in decades, Bobby Valentine isn't getting a kick out of his New York Mets.
Kirk Rueter pitched five-hit ball for eight shutout innings Wednesday night in the Giants' 3-1 victory over the Mets, who lost their 10th straight.
"If I knew an answer, I'd use it,'' said Mike Piazza, who went 0-for-4 to extend his slump to 3-for-27. "Obviously, it's very frustrating. We haven't got a lot of big hits. We've had guys on base, but we haven't taken advantage of it. Even though we're pitching well, we've just got nothing offensively right now.''
The Mets have made at least one error in 11 straight games, and have led for a total of one inning during their 10-game sk
08/20/2002
Schmidt shuts down Amazin's
Jason Schmidt struck out his first six batters and finished a five-hitter by fanning Mike Piazza with a runner on third as the San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets 1-0 Tuesday night.
Schmidt's third victory in five starts began with one strikeout after another. He fanned Roberto Alomar, Timo Perez and Mo Vaughn in the first, then struck out Mike Piazza, Burnitz and Ty Wigginton in the second to thunderous applause. "You're a little surprised when you do that off the bat,'' Schmidt said. "It's nice to know that you've got your good stuff going. I have a lot of confidence over here. This is a good park to pitch in. It's definitely a pitcher's park. I like it.''
Al Leiter (10-10) was nearly as impressive as Schmidt, allowing six hits and striking out eight in seven innings. The Mets' poor decision-making on defense cost Leiter his only run, however, and Rey Ordonez's baserunning blunder in the eighth killed New York's only rally.
08/18/2002
Grissom kills Mets again
The slumping New York Mets might be just as happy to be heading to California as are the surging Los Angeles Dodgers.
Marquis Grissom tripled, doubled and scored twice as the Dodgers beat the Mets 2-1 on Sunday and sent them to their 11th straight home loss and eighth in a row overall.
Mets manager Bobby Valentine was out to argue with umpires in each of the first two innings, and Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros was ejected by home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom after he argued a called third strike in the third.
The Mets finished their homestand 0-6 after getting swept by San Diego and Los Angeles. New York dropped one game to Houston and four in a row to Arizona to finish off its previous stay at Shea Stadium.
It was the seventh time in the Mets' 40-year history they had a winless homestand of at least six games, last doing it in 1999.
The team's worst homestand was 0-9 in 1979, en route to a team-record 13 straight home losses to end the season under manager Joe Torre.
Jeromy Burnitz was in right field and batted sixth for the Mets after the slumping slugger was out of the starting lineup four straight games. He went 0-for-3, with three flyouts to right field.
Former OF Tommie Agee was posthumously inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.
08/17/2002
Perez shuts down Mets
Odalis Perez was almost perfect again, and he's sure he'll put his name in the record book someday.
Perez retired his first 19 batters, and Shawn Green homered and drove in four runs as the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the New York Mets 10-4 on Saturday night.
The Mets dropped their 10th in a row at home and set a season high with seven consecutive losses overall.
The crowd of 50,763 chanted "Go on Strike! Go on Strike!'' when the Mets fell behind 8-0 in the third inning. They slipped into last place in the NL East.
New York's skid at Shea Stadium is its worst since setting a franchise record by losing the final 13 home games in 1979 under manager Joe Torre.
New York's starting outfield of Roger Cedeno, Timo Perez and McEwing has combined for 14 home runs and 18 errors this season.
08/16/2002
Dodgers rally past Mets
Marquis Grissom hit a two-run homer off Mark Guthrie in the eighth inning
and the Los Angeles Dodgers sent the Mets to their ninth straight home loss,
3-2 Friday night.
The Mets' skid at Shea Stadium is their worst since they set a team record by losing their final 13 home games in 1979 under manager Joe Torre.
"I was part of that. I was responsible for that,'' Torre recalled Friday night before his New York Yankees played at Seattle. "At home, you'd like to believe you have an advantage over teams, but it's like that snowball going down the hill.
Tony Tarasco went 0-for-3 for the Mets while batting cleanup for the first time in his career.
Left fielder Roger Cedeno let the ball get under glove, allowing a run to score. Cedeno's mistake, on his 28th birthday, was the Mets' major league-worst 108th error and accounted for the 59th unearned run against them this year.
08/15/2002
Mets match longest home skid in 22 years
The boos started when Vance Wilson threw a ball into right field. They kept going when Mo Vaughn misplayed a grounder and Ty Wiggington lost a popup in the sun -- all in an excruciating fifth inning.
New York Mets fans haven't seen a stretch this bad in 22 years and didn't mind letting the team know about it.
The Mets have lost five straight overall and eight in a row at Shea Stadium, falling a season-high four games below .500. It's New York's longest losing streak at home since the Mets dropped eight straight in August 1980 on the way to a 67-95 season.
That team had few expectations, unlike this year's $95 million version, which many fans thought would compete for a playoff berth. Instead, the Mets are in sixth place in the wild card standings and out of the NL East race.
08/14/2002
Mets drop seventh straight at Shea
Brian Lawrence pitched into the eighth inning and Bubba Trammell and Ron Gant homered as the San Diego Padres beat the Mets 6-2 Wednesday night to send the Mets to their 10th loss in 13 games.
The Mets have lost seven straight home games, their longest since also dropping seven straight at Shea Stadium in July 1982.
Roger Cedeno was booed after he grounded out to second with two outs and the light-hitting Ordonez up next in the second inning.
Pinch-hitter Jeromy Burnitz was loudly booed when he was announced in the seventh, and again after he struck out.
08/13/2002
Rookie pitcher Peavy pounds Mets
Jake Peavy (4-4), in his ninth major league start, struck out a career-high seven, walked one and won for the fourth time in five decisions. Allowing two runs and five hits in 8 1-3 innings as the Padres beat the Mets 7-2 on Tuesday night. He also got in on the offense, doubling his career hits total by going 3-for-4 with a double, as the Padres got 12 hits.
Steve Trachsel (8-8), coming off his first complete game of the season -- a 9-0 victory over Milwaukee last Thursday -- lasted just three innings as the Mets dropped to two games under .500 at 58-60.
In a strange moment in the sixth, Klesko hit what he thought was his 22nd homer of the season, and then struck out -- all in the same at-bat.
Klesko hit a 2-0 pitch from reliever Jeff D'Amico down the right-field line off the railing in the first deck, and first-base umpire Andy Fletcher signaled the ball was fair for a home run.
But as Klesko circled the bases, Mets first baseman Mo Vaughn and manager Bobby Valentine argued the call with Fletcher and the umpires gathered.
With fans on the foul side of the pole pointing at the spot on the railing where the ball hit, the call was quickly overturned.
08/11/2002
Rolen wakes up in big way
Scott Rolen hit his first home run with St. Louis and a two-run triple, leading Chuck Finley and the Cardinals over the New York Mets 9-0 Sunday night.
Rolen, who entered in a 2-for-32 slump, homered in his 42nd at-bat since arriving in a trade with Philadelphia on July 29. He finished with three hits, two walks and three RBIs.
Mets starter Pedro Astacio (11-5), who had won six of his last seven decisions, allowed six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six. Astacio is 7-11 lifetime against the Cardinals and 3-6 at Busch Stadium.
Mo Vaughn, who went 0-for-4, is 30-for-67 (.448) with eight home runs in 18 Sunday night games.
08/10/2002
Estes lasts just three innings in Mets' loss
Mets starter Shawn Estes said Pujols hit a tough curveball.
"He hit my best pitch out of the park,'' Estes said. "He beat me on it.''
Estes walked the bases loaded with nobody out to set up Albert Pujols' second slam of the season and third of his career as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 5-4.
The Mets scored four runs in the fifth off Hackman and reliever Mike Matthews.
Timo Perez led off with an infield single and Mo Vaughn and John Valentin doubled to make it 4-2. Tony Tarasco and Rey Ordonez added RBI singles to tie it.
Mets star Mike Piazza was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and two foulouts.