Ike Davis Booed At Citi Field As Dreadful Slump Continues

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Ike Davis was out of place at first base and looked out of sorts in the batter's box.

The Mets' slumping slugger was called for obstructing a runner rounding first base in a three-run first inning and went hitless in three at-bats for New York during a 4-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

And -- no surprise here -- he heard plenty of boos from the crowd at Citi Field.

"The game is really built on momentum and confidence," Davis said, "and I just haven't had a lot of things go right for me for things to take off."

Davis was called for interference in the Reds' three-run first inning. With a runner on first and one out, Joey Votto, the NL player of the week, hit a smash that ricocheted off first base and into right field. As he made his turn at first, Votto nudged Davis, who was nonchalantly standing near the bag, looking into the outfield. Votto was tagged out at second but Davis was charged with an error and Votto was awarded the base.

"I was looking for the ball and I took a couple of steps," Davis said. "That's why I was there longer than I should've been."

Davis slid deeper into his month-long funk at the plate, going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. He has two hits in his last 36 at-bats — and one RBI in May. His average dipped to .152.

"It's tough when you continuously don't do well," said Davis. "But it's the game of baseball and you've got to keep trying, man. I can't give up. I'm never going to give up."

Last season Davis' average didn't rise above .200 for good until July 4, but the Mets were playing well and Davis was never sent to the minors. Manager Terry Collins said things might be different this time because the Mets are struggling offensively, failing to score more than three runs for the 11th time in 14 games.

"We have a lot of discussions about different things and that's something we have considered: what's best for him? What's best for us?" Collins said. "The fact that we're not playing like we did last year at this particular time now, it's a bigger factor."

Davis rebounded in 2012 after batting .169 through May. He finished with just a .227 average, but had 32 home runs and 90 RBIs.

"We didn't do it last year," said Collins of sending Davis to Triple-A. "Maybe he just had to work it out here and he eventually did. ... It's not that he's not trying. He's not getting it done during the game."

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