Always interesting to see what the papers from the otherside have to say. Here we have the Los Angeles Times focusing on the failures of the Dodgers to hit in the clutch or get the job done in the field.
What it doesn’t say, however, is that the Mets have managed to take advantage of the miscues and turn them into runs. The sixth inning is an example.
David Wright and Cliff Floyd led off the Mets’ sixth with back-to-back singles, and Jose Valentin dropped a bunt down the third-base line.
Garciaparra had just left the game, remember, and Little scrambled his infield by inserting Wilson Betemit at third base, moving Julio Lugo from third base to second and Kent from second base to first. Betemit took a step toward the ball, then retreated to cover third base. Reliever Brett Tomko took a step toward first base, then reversed direction to retrieve the ball. By that time, he had no chance to throw out Wright at third, and his throw to first appeared to pull Lugo off the bag.
Little said Lugo should have been charged with the error, not Tomko, because Lugo got the ball in time and dropped it. But he also said Betemit and Tomko initially broke the wrong way on the ball, costing the Dodgers a chance at forcing the lead runner.”
It was just a botched-up play,” Little said.
Endy Chavez bounced into a force play at home plate against Mark Hendrickson, so the Mets had the bases loaded and one out. Julio Franco then grounded into an apparent 6-4-3 double play, but the 48-year-old Franco somehow beat the relay.
“We thought we had a good shot to get Franco,” Little said. “The ball was hit just slowly enough.”
Forgotten in this account — or missed, at any rate — was the lack of aggression that Rafael Furcal showed on the grounder (or Lugo’s inexperience at the position), holding back and letting it play him. If he had charged it, it is likely that the Dodgers would have gotten Franco, ending the inning. Instead, the Mets followed the failed DP with a two-out Reyes hit and the game was won for the Mets.
Stay tuned for game three.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
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Hank Kalet 