Wright, Reyes errors undermine Mets
New York Mets' David Wright #5 makes an error on a ball hit by Chicago Cubs' Geovany Soto #18 in the ninth inning at Citi Field in New York. (Sept. 10, 2011) Credit: John Dunn
Someone politely asked David Wright about the tough day the Mets had in the field Saturday and the third baseman just as politely offered a correction. "It wasn't so much 'the field,' " Wright said. "It was the left side of the infield."
If only the four errors that he and shortstop Jose Reyes made between them could have been so easily erased.
The Mets' two cornerstone players had gloves of stone on two plays apiece, and two of those proved costly. Reyes was handcuffed on Jeff Baker's ground ball in the first and Wright misplayed Geovany Soto's in-between hop grounder in the ninth, which helped the Mets turn a nice afternoon -- in front of a Citi Field crowd that included 332 dogs who paraded before the game -- into a season-high, all-thumbs festival.
"It was a little bit crazy, we made some mistakes," Reyes said after the 5-4 loss to the Cubs. "Me specifically. I made two errors. I didn't help out."
Each player did have a hit, a run batted in and a run scored in the inspired four-run eighth. But each also contributed to the three unearned runs that helped a decent game slip through their fingers.
"Well, that's not us, for sure," manager Terry Collins said. "We catch the baseball. We have all year long. Obviously they scored a couple of runs because of it, but that wasn't the deciding factor in the game."
The defensive dog day afternoon sure didn't help. Reyes took the blame for the first inning run on a liner that starting pitcher Chris Capuano said looked like it was a 95 miles per hour knuckleball. "It was kind of tough, but I should have caught that ball," Reyes said.
Two crucial unearned runs scored after Wright began the top of the ninth by misplaying a grounder. "I kind of got caught in between [hops]. I was trying to retreat, trying to catch and throw," Wright said.
Speaking of himself and Reyes, he added, "I think both of us were trying to be too quick with the ball. Sometimes, your mind works faster than your body out there."
It is a compliment to both players that it was such a surprise. Reyes hadn't had a two-error game in more than a year, Wright had not had one since 2008. Said Reyes, "That happens sometimes. This is baseball. We just try to do our job and sometimes we're going to make a mistake. Hopefully, it's not going to happen too much."
