'Angry' Mets Come Up Empty In Bronx, Look To Turn Page Against Rays
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) — Two outs in the seventh, a three-run lead. Still, Mets manager Terry Collins was worried that the error David Wright just made could lead to trouble.
With the way the Yankees have hit this month, who could blame him?
"When we didn't make the play, I said, 'This isn't good. Not here,'" Collins said. "'This isn't good.'"
Russell Martin fulfilled Collins' fears, hitting a two-run homer that bounced off the top of the fence at Yankee Stadium's short right field porch.
Martin then connected off Jon Rauch for the game-winner leading off the ninth, lifting the Yankees over the Mets 5-4 Sunday for a three-game sweep.
Collins described the clubhouse mood as "angry" after the game, a sentiment made obvious by Rauch.
"Were you guys watching the game or no?" Rauch snapped at reporters. "Martin (expletive) hit it a mile. And I cost us the game. I made a couple good pitches and hung one, and he hit the (expletive) out of it."
The Yankees took advantage of errors by Wright and Omar Quintanilla to rally from a 3-0 deficit and take a 4-3 lead in the eighth on a single by Alex Rodriguez.
But Rafael Soriano blew his first save since he started finishing games when Mariano Rivera was lost to a season-ending knee injury.
Soriano gave up a tying double in the ninth to slumping Mets first baseman Ike Davis, a defensive replacement in the eighth who got a pep talk from Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson on Saturday. Soriano got some help keeping it tied 4-all from shortstop Jayson Nix, who threw to third to get the lead runner on a grounder by Quintanilla.
Martin later connected on a full-count pitch from Rauch (3-6).
"Well, everybody goes through a bad stretch. And this is ours," said Collins. "No matter what move we made, it didn't work. We've got to fight through it and battle through it and pick each other up. … We'll take a day off, catch our breath and get after it in Tampa."
The Yankees hit eight long balls in their first sweep of the Mets in the Bronx since 2003 — that series included a fourth, makeup game that was played at Shea Stadium as part of a two-stadium doubleheader. It was their first win in their last at-bat against the Mets since Luis Castillo dropped Rodriguez's potential game-ending popup on June 12, 2009, scoring two runs.
The Mets scored more than three runs against the Yankees for the first time in 11 games and for the first time in their past five games this season, but have lost six of seven overall.
"We came in here and wanted to win the series," said Mets outfielder Scott Hairston. "It was a big series for us. Every team goes through their ups and downs. And, yeah, we just had our downtime. I think now it's time to get back on the horse, so to speak, and hopefully win the series down in Tampa Bay."
NOTES: Jason Bay, batting second because of his success against Pettitte, went 0 for 4. He is 0 for 11 since returning from a broken rib on Friday night. He hadn't played since April 23.
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