High & Inside: NL Notes
A funny game Few hitters were more lost at the plate during April than Mets third baseman David Wright. To his credit, he conceded he had little idea what he was doing when he stepped into the batter's box.
A funny game
Few hitters were more lost at the plate during April than Mets third baseman David Wright. To his credit, he conceded he had little idea what he was doing when he stepped into the batter's box.
But in testament to the unpredictability of baseball, Wright jacked his batting average up to .350 with three hits and three RBIs in the Mets' 9-6 win at San Francisco yesterday. On Friday he had three hits and four RBIs, and Thursday, Wright stole four bases. He's hitting over .440 this month with 19 RBIs in 15 games and a slugging percentage over .700. Wright already has more hits (26) in May than he did in all of April (23).
The Mets' last two wins came against Randy Johnson, who was trying for his 299th win, and Tim Lincecum, the reigning Cy Young Award winner.
Falling fast
Two weeks into the season, the Marlins were the talk of baseball with their 11-1 start. Then they proceeded to lose 18 of their next 24. They were 3-11 in May before yesterday, and one of their star hitters, Dan Uggla, is batting .182. Their run differential is fifth-worst in the league.
The Marlins' frustration boiled over in Friday's 6-4 loss to the Dodgers when Uggla, Emilio Bonifacio and mananger Fredi Gonzalez were ejected.
Uggla went to first base after he was hit in the hand by a pitch. After Dodgers manager Joe Torre appealed to first base ump Ed Rapuano, Uggla was sent back to the plate after it was ruled he swung at the pitch. Uggla struck out and stared down the ump, and he was gone.
Breaking with the norm
By popular demand, the CBSSports.com database will make Stephen Strasburg available to its fantasy leaguers even though the righthander from San Diego State has yet to be drafted.
"We are ready to break from our norms that players eligible for the upcoming June draft are not added to our database until they are at least drafted, if not signed," wrote Eric Mack, the Web site's senior fantasy writer. "Stephen Strasburg is a worthy exception."
The 20-year-old Strasburg is expected to be the first overall pick in next month's draft. The pick belongs to Washington. Strasburg is the most highly publicized pitching prospect in recent memory. His manager is Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.
"It is pretty amazing watching a 20-year-old throw a ball with location, with downward plane, with a little bit of movement, at 100 m.p.h.," Gwynn said.
In 971/3 innings, Strasburg struck out 133 and walked 16. He went 11-0 with a 1.24 ERA.
Noteworthy
The Mets placed Carlos Delgado on the disabled list because of an impingement in his right hip. He hit .423 in his previous seven games. . . . San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez went into last night with homers in each of his previous five games.