Perez wild in return but Mets end skid
July 9, 2009
NEW YORK (AP)—Oliver Perez(notes) was back at it, walking one batter after another.This time, however, he managed to wriggle out of trouble.
Perez won despite a wild return from the disabled list and the depleted NewYork Mets finally mustered some offense Wednesday night, overcoming MannyRamirez’s(notes) homer in a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
David Wright(notes) snapped an 0-for-17 slump with his first RBI this month. DanielMurphy(notes) doubled twice and made an incredible play at first base, and the Metsended a four-game skid with their third victory in 12 games.
“It was a big win for us,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “We needed to win agame.”
Ramirez hit a leadoff shot to right in the ninth inning off FranciscoRodriguez(notes), making it 5-4. The All-Star closer walked his next batter, but gotAndre Ethier(notes) to ground into a game-ending double play with two on for his 22ndsave in 25 chances.
Ramirez’s 535th homer broke a tie with Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx for 16thplace on the career list, one behind Mickey Mantle.
Series at a Glance LA Dodgers 8 NY Mets 0 Tue, Jul 7 – Final LA Dodgers 4 NY Mets 5 Wed, Jul 8 – Final LA Dodgers at NY Mets Thu, Jul 9 – 7:10 pm ET
Booed consistently by the crowd of 40,027, Ramirez went 1 for 5 in his fifthgame back following a 50-game drug suspension. He played all nine innings forthe first time since his return—the enigmatic slugger was ejected for throwingequipment following a fifth-inning strikeout Tuesday night.
Ramirez said umpire John Hirschbeck told him Wednesday that he missed thecall in question the previous night.
“We’re friends. Everybody makes mistakes. I overreacted,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez, who stranded two runners with a sixth-inning groundout againstBobby Parnell(notes), is 4 for 16 (.250) with two home runs and five RBIs sincereturning to the lineup.
“I’ve still got a long way to go,” Ramirez said, explaining that he needsto build strength in his legs. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to get there.”
Perez (2-2) was wild all night, but didn’t wilt. He walked a season-highseven in five innings, then left for a pinch hitter with a 5-2 lead. He allowedfour hits and struck out two, throwing 55 of 108 pitches for strikes.
“He was flowing in and out of rhythm. It became very challenging for us,”Manuel said. “But one thing about Ollie, he competes and gives you everythinghe’s got. And tonight that was enough to get him through five innings.”
Re-signed by the Mets to a $36 million, three-year contract in theoffseason, Perez had been sidelined since May 3 because of tendinitis in hisright knee. He opened the season 1-2 with a 9.97 ERA in five starts.
“I kind of felt like we let him off the hook a little bit,” said Dodgerscleanup hitter Casey Blake(notes), who walked four times. “We needed a big hit and wedidn’t come up with it.”
Perez’s return was the first piece of good news in weeks for theinjury-ravaged Mets, still missing Carlos Delgado(notes), Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran(notes),John Maine(notes) and J.J. Putz(notes).
New York finally caught a break in the seventh, when Mark Loretta’s(notes) groundercaromed off first base and up in the air. A stumbling Murphy scooped up the balland made a blind, behind-the-back flip to Parnell covering first base for theout.
“I just grabbed it and flipped it,” Murphy said. “That’s just reactionright there, and being in the right place at the right time.”
Loretta put both hands on his helmet and manager Joe Torre came out toargue, to no avail.
“That was about as unlucky as I’ve been on a baseball field in my career,”Loretta said.
Perez walked his first batter on four pitches—and none were close. Theerratic left-hander issued three straight free passes in the third, but escapedunscathed.
He said he was “a little nervous.”
“Sometimes you don’t have command,” Perez said. “Just one of those gamesyou have to keep your team in the game. I feel healthy. I feel strong. I knowwhat I have to do to get better.”
Jeremy Reed(notes) doubled in the second off Hiroki Kuroda(notes) (3-5) and scored on LuisCastillo’s(notes) two-out infield single for New York’s first run in 24 innings.
New York broke loose for three runs in the third to take a 4-1 lead. Murphyhit his second double and scored when Wright singled for his first RBI in sevengames since June 30.
An error by Blake at third base allowed another run to score, and Reed addedan RBI single.
Ramirez reacted late in left field on Murphy’s first-inning double over hishead. The Mets had gone 29 innings without an extra-base hit, matching a clubrecord done 12 times previously—the last in 1992.
NOTES: Kuroda lasted 4 1-3 innings, his shortest start this season. … NewYork improved to 1-4 against the Dodgers this year.
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