After Saturday’s 3-2 victory against the Phillies, Terry Collins told reporters that Ruben Tejada will start at second base in the rubber match on Sunday.
Tejada had himself a solid defensive performance at shortstop, highlighted by a nifty rally-ending 6-4-3 double play in the eighth inning after the Phillies loaded the bases and threatened to break the game wide open.
Gary Cohen and Ron Darling called it the most important double play the Mets have turned all season. Darling went even further, saying it was yet another turning point in a young season full of them.
“It was a great play by a good player,” Collins said after the game.
Tejada also doubled in the fifth inning and would eventually score the Mets’ first run of the game against starting pitcher Aaron Harang. Playing in place of Wilmer Flores, Tejada was on base three times, going 2-for-3 with a walk.
Dilson Herrera will get the day off despite his modest three-game hitting streak after a rough start since his promotion. His throwing error in the sixth inning allowed the Phillies to score two unearned runs off Jon Niese who was doing a fine job of shutting down the Phils.
I told someone tonight that I believe the Wilmer Flores situation is going to come to a head in the next few days, even though Sandy Alderson was adamant that he would get another 4-6 weeks to prove himself at shortstop.
In the last ten games, it’s amazing how each win or loss hinged on the middle infield defense. It’s obvious now just how critical it is to be defensively sound up the middle. Especially when you don’t have an overpowering offense and every game is decided by two runs or less.
Waiting 4-6 weeks until mid-to-late June to decide whether the team is satisfied with Flores defensively, seems like an awful long time.
Plus, knowing Terry Collins and his sentimental attachment to Ruben Tejada, I’d expect him to start getting a lot more playing time moving forward. That may not necessarily be a bad thing. Tejada certainly earned the start on Sunday with his nice performance tonight.
The Mets are having a solid season, but have seen their 8 game lead in 1st place shrink to 3 games. Meanwhile the Nationals have climbed from 4th place to 2nd over the past week and are now only two games in back of the Mets in the win column.
I think defense is going to be a big factor as the Mets battle for control of the NL East.
