A lot of the wrong stuff as Phils thump Mets
Francisco Rodriguez made a brief public apology a few hours before last night's game at Citi Field. Afterward, it should have been David Wright's turn to do the same for his sorry performance in the Mets' 4-0 loss to the Phillies.
Obviously, K-Rod's crimes are on a much different scale, and the remaining fans from the announced crowd of 39,151 greeted him with loud boos when he entered in the ninth. But Wright was booed on three different occasions - with just as much volume.
Wright went 1-for-4, twice stranded a runner in scoring position, and he let Jimmy Rollins' routine grounder go through his legs for a two-run error that put the Phillies ahead 4-0. Wright is batting .098 (4-for-41) for August and is hitting .200 (20-for-100) since the All-Star break.
He finally was cheered in the ninth after his single off Ryan Madson. The Mets loaded the bases before Josh Thole whiffed on a nasty changeup to end it.
"I feel pretty good," Wright said. "I'd like to see some results obviously, but I think I'm heading in the right direction. Hopefully, I can bust out of this thing and start driving in some runs."
Heading into the All-Star break, Wright was hitting .314 with a .392 on-base percentage and 65 RBIs in 87 games. But the recent cold spell has sent his batting average plunging to .287 and Wright has 12 RBIs in the 25 games since then.
"He's a professional," Jerry Manuel said. "He's played here for a long time. It's just a little bump in the road for him. He'll be back. He'll get as hot as he's been cold. That's just David."
Pat Misch (0-1) allowed only one earned run in six innings because of three errors by the Mets. As it was, they couldn't do much with Roy Halladay (15-8), who allowed four hits and struck out seven over eight innings. The Phillies snapped a scoreless streak of 38 innings this season at Citi Field.
Wright first heard boos in the fourth when he whiffed with Jose Reyes at third base. But the decibel levels spiked in the sixth when Wright let Rollins' two-out grounder roll between his legs for a two-run error.
The Phillies had loaded the bases on two singles and an intentional walk, but Misch got what he needed when Rollins pulled a harmless bouncer directly to Wright. Or so the Mets thought. The ball skipped under Wright's glove and through his legs, two Phillies scored and the crowd booed loudly.
"I think it was a combination of things," Wright said. "It took a tricky hop to my right and I kind of went to go tag third before I secured the ball. Obviously it was a big play. That's a play that we need."
The fans' got on Wright again in the sixth when he tapped to the mound with Angel Pagan at second base. The boos erupted before Wright could even get out of the batter's box.
In the fourth, with Reyes at third after a triple, Pagan grounded out before Wright and Carlos Beltran failed to do the job. Both whiffed on 2-and-2 curveballs, both drawing loud boos from the crowd.
"You have to play pretty perfect baseball to beat [Halladay]," Wright said. "And we were far from that today."
