Utility man Eric Campbell went into the Arizona Diamondbacks series buried in 0-for-28 slump at the plate, nine at-bats short of matching Rey Ordonez’s franchise record for futility by a position player.
But Campbell finally got a hit on Friday to end that skid, and then in Sunday’s game while starting at third base, he hit a two-run homer to help lead the Mets to a 6-3 victory over the D’backs.
With the win, the Mets lept past the Nationals for first place in the NL East.
When asked about the hitless streak, Campbell said:
“A lot of thoughts go through your head. You just try to remind yourself it’s never as bad as it seems – tomorrow is always a new day no matter how much you struggle.” (ESPN New York)
Early in the game, Campbell committed a throwing error in the first inning that led to an Arizona run. But he atoned for that with his two-run shot.
“The home run doesn’t take the error away. I’ve always been more pissed when I make an error defensively than when I strike out or anything like that because you’re making the pitch count rise, you’re hurting the starting pitcher.”
Overall, Campbell went 2-for-4 with the home run, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored on Sunday. This was also Campbell’s second straight 2-hit game.
“I feel good as I’ve felt in my career right now,” Campbell said. “I’m just going to try to ride it out and see how it goes.”
With injuries to David Wright and now Daniel Murphy, bench players like Campbell have had to carry a big load this season, perhaps unfairly so. It was good to see him contribute this weekend. Hopefully there will be more games like this when Terry Collins calls his number.
