Rust? What rust?
David Wright had sort of a triumphant return last night as the Mets beat the Phillies 6-4 in the opening game of their weekend series. Wright had terrific night at the plate and showed no rust from his seven week layoff going 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored. What was amazing about his return was that Wright played in no rehab games in between his injury and his return last night.
“It was just fun to be back out there,” Wright said after the win. “You feel like when you’re hurt, you’re not really part of the team and not part of that camaraderie. To get out there and to get those competitive juices flowing again, that was fun. You don’t really know how much you miss it until you’re out for the six or seven weeks.”
Wright’s homer came in his first at-bat – an opposite-field two-run homer against Cole Hamels. It gave the Mets third baseman 18 career homers in Philly, the most by a visiting player in the 10-year history of Citizens Bank Park. It also matches his career high for homers in a road ballpark having hit 18 longballs at Atlanta’s Turner Field as well.
The home run was the 221st of his career, passing Mike Piazza and giving him sole possession of second place on the Mets All-Time Home Run list. He now trails only Darryl Strawberry, who had 252 with the Mets.
“To surpass Piazza in a statistical category, you know you’re doing something right,” Wright said after the game. “To be mentioned in any kind of sentence with Mike is pretty special, because obviously he’s a Hall of Fame hitter, Hall of Fame catcher and one of the best to ever play the game.”
Wright can share his sentiments with Piazza in a week when the Mets will honor their former catcher and induct him into the Mets Hall of Fame on Sunday, September 29th.
