Under a brilliant Queens afternoon sky, they lost to Dwight Gooden, a pitcher the Yankees claimed off the scrap heap. As dusk settled over the Bronx, they lost Mike Piazza to a concussion when he was drilled in the head by Roger Clemens.
And one hour before yesterday slid into today, they lost their third straight to the Yankees. Tonight, they could be swept in the Subway Series.
Was it any wonder the Mets were more than a little testy after absorbing a second 4-2 defeat of the day at Yankee Stadium last night?
“Bull… ” was Mets GM Steve Phillips’ one-word description of Piazza getting hit by Clemens’ second pitch of the second inning that resulted in the best player in New York laying still on the ground as the sold-out crowd of 55,821 inhaled and held its breath.
Phillips wasn’t the only member of the Mets who believed Clemens was head-hunting against Piazza, who entered the game 7-for-12 with three homers and nine RBIs versus the right-hander.
“I hope some day he has to pitch in a National League park,” Bobby Valentine said. “That’s all I have to say on that.”
While Clemens admitted his intention was to pitch Piazza in, he denied he hit him in the helmet with a high-octane fastball on purpose.
“I was trying to pitch inside,” said Clemens (6-6), who went 71/3 innings in which he gave up seven hits and two runs for his second straight victory since coming off the DL last weekend. “Everyone knows Mike has hit me well, but that’s not the way I wanted to get him out.”
But Piazza was out of the game and replaced by Matt Franco, who ended
the fifth inning by stranding two runners after the Mets grabbed a 2-0 lead and grounded out in the eighth with Derek Bell on second and the Yankees leading, 4-2.
Informed that Valentine was hot about losing Piazza, Joe Torre remained calm.
“I hope we are bigger than this,” said Torre, whose team has won five straight and leads the Blue Jays by one game in the AL East. “With the past success we had in the first two games, we weren’t trying to stir something up by hitting somebody in the head. Roger pitches inside. [Bob] Gibson and [Don] Drysdale pitched inside. Mike hadn’t had a hit in the series. We were not trying to stir it up.”
But even Torre admitted that Clemens’ reputation as a headhunter made the beaning all the more suspicious.
“I’ve been mad at Roger before. He’s hit a couple of my guys,” said Torre, possibly remembering how Clemens drilled Derek Jeter in a spring training game three years ago.
Mets starter Glendon Rusch retaliated last night by hitting Tino Martinez with the second pitch of the home second. That drew a warning from plate umpire Doug Eddings and an argument from Valentine, who was tossed in the first inning of the first game.
“I knew I was going to get hit and I was prepared,” said Martinez, who was drilled in the butt and went to first without even looking at Rusch, who lost his second straight and is 6-7 despite fanning a career-high 10 and going the distance.
“That’s part of the game,” Rusch said. “You need to do what needs to be done. It’s part of the game and there is nothing you can do about it.”
The Mets fell four games behind the NL East-leading Braves.
As for the game, Chuck Knoblauch’s fourth homer, a three-run blow that went in and out of left fielder Lenny Harris’ glove, keyed a four-run fifth inning for the Yankees and erased a 2-0 Mets lead.
“I couldn’t tell, I was so far away,” said Knoblauch, who fractured an 0-for-8 slide with the homer. “I knew [Harris] went up for it. I really didn’t know what happened until I saw the replay.”
With Piazza was motionless on the ground, Clemens stood about 30 feet away with his hands on his knees as he watched the Mets’ trainers work on Piazza. However, the Rocket didn’t let the scary moment affect him since he retired the next seven batters.
“I don’t think we went inside as much after that,” said catcher Chris Turner, who said the pitch that hit Piazza was a two-seam fastball that went up and in. “But he [Clemens] wasn’t shook up.”
When Derek Bell opened the eighth with a double and Edgardo Alfonzo flied to center, Torre went to Mike Stanton and he stranded Bell at second. From there, Torre called on Mariano Rivera for the second time in one day and third time in two days. Rivera had to work around a Derek Jeter error in the ninth but posted his 21st save.
“All but Mike getting hurt, it was a great day for us,” Torre said of sweeping the first split-stadium twinbill in 97 years. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the way we pitched.”