Wright plays short as injuries wreak havoc

The open-air infirmary that was Citi Field on Sunday took on patient after patient. First, Jose Reyes went down with stiffness in his previously injured left hamstring. Then Daniel Murphy had to be helped off the field after injuring his left knee when he was kicked by Atlanta's Jose Constanza at second base during a stolen-base attempt. Never mind that Dillon Gee got his own bruising by the Braves' bats in the Mets' 6-5 loss.

Down two middle infielders, the Mets were forced to play out of position to get through it.

It started when Willie Harris pinch hit for the injured Reyes in the second inning. Before the third, he took over second base with Justin Turner moving to shortstop. Turner last played short for two innings in 2010.

After Murphy pinch hit for D.J. Carrasco in the sixth inning, he took over second base for Harris, who left in a double switch. After Murphy's injury, Scott Hairston moved from rightfield to second base, a position he hadn't played since 2008 with San Diego. Hairston said he hadn't even taken ground balls there in several years. Lucas Duda entered the game in right.

"I was telling myself, 'Do the fundamental things. Catch the ball. Throw the ball,' " said Hairston, who didn't have a fielding opportunity.

Before the eighth inning, Turner switched back to second base, David Wright took his first major-league shot at shortstop, Hairston moved back to rightfield, Nick Evans moved from first to third and Lucas Duda went from right to first base. With two outs in the inning, Josh Thole came in to catch.

"The one question mark was David going to shortstop," manager Terry Collins said. "Chip [Hale] told me he's fine there. David told me he's fine there. I asked David to reassure me. I would never, ever, ever put him in a situation where not only would he get hurt but where he would fail. You just don't do that to stars, which he is."

Wright handled his only chance at short, gloving Turner's flip to force Chipper Jones at second base to end the ninth. But it still was an uncomfortable situation.

"It sucks I had to play there, under the circumstances," said Wright, who said the last time he played the position was in high school. "I shouldn't have been playing over there."

Centerfielder Angel Pagan was the only player to stick to his original position, and Jason Pridie was the one position player who wasn't used in the field (he pinch hit in the ninth inning). Four different players manned second base and three took turns at shortstop.

Let's not even get into the pitching changes. Considering the scorecard-scribbling chaos, the result wasn't too bad.

There were miscues: Evans couldn't grab a pickoff throw in the first inning and Turner missed a catch while at short in the third. But neither error led to a run.