Beltran leaves after fouling ball off shin
New York Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran fouls a pitch off his foot during the bottom of the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at CitiField. Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
Of all the Mets' missing pieces, Carlos Beltran surprisingly had not been one of them heading into Sunday night's game. Despite nursing two bad knees, Beltran has played in a team-leading 58 games. Jose Reyes is second on the Mets with 56 and Daniel Murphy is third with 55.
Unfortunately, Beltran's luck ran out in the second inning when he fouled a pitch off his right shin, apparently above and behind where the plastic guard protected him. Beltran, in obvious pain, even fell to all fours at one point. He stayed in to finish the at-bat, striking out, but did not return to the field. Willie Harris replaced him.
Oddly enough, Terry Collins had praised Beltran's durability before the game.
"I am amazed," Collins said. "But what I'm most amazed at is his professionalism of how he's dealt with it. When I said to him the other day, 'Let's talk about a day off,' he said, 'No. David [Wright] is out. Ike [Davis] is out. I need to play. I need to be in the lineup . . . He knows we need him and he's going to be there for us."
What Collins forgot to add is the virtual disappearance of the struggling Jason Bay, who was benched for Sunday night's series finale against the Braves. That leaves Beltran marooned in the middle of the lineup, sandwiched between Justin Turner in the No. 2 spot and the unlikely cleanup hitter, Murphy.
Jerez works out
The Mets watched Williams Jerez, a 19-year-old outfielder from Brooklyn's Grand Street Campus, take batting practice before the game at Citi Field. Jerez hit one shot onto the second deck in rightfield and another over the 408-foot mark in center.
The Mets pick at Nos. 13 and 43 in Monday's amateur draft.
