Delgado set a Mets record with nine RBIs
Saturday, June 28th, 2008NEW YORK (AP) - Carlos Delgado and the New York Mets kept piling up hits, delaying their trip home for the second half of a rare two-stadium Subway Series doubleheader. They didn’t seem to mind spending a little extra time in the Bronx.
Delgado set a Mets record with nine RBIs and Luis Castillo scored a career-best five runs in a 15-6 rout over the New York Yankees on Friday.
“I got lucky,” Delgado said. “Every time I came up it seems like they had a lot of guys on base so I got some good pitches to hit and I was able to drive them.”
Delgado hit a two-run double off Edwar Ramirez in the fifth inning and his 12th career grand slam in the sixth, a drive against Ross Ohlendorf that landed in one of the last rows of bleachers in right-center. Delgado added a three-run homer in the eighth off LaTroy Hawkins, a drive into a corridor beyond the right-field wall.
“To have this type of game on this type of stage is very impressive,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said.
Delgado’s nine RBIs were one better than Dave Kingman’s total for the Mets in an 11-0 victory at the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 4, 1976. Delgado’s 44th multihomer game gave him 444 home runs for his career, breaking a tie with Kingman for 34th on the major league career list.
Delgado, who turned 36 on Wednesday, entered with just 11 homers and 35 RBIs this season. He hit a drive off the bottom of the left-field foul pole in the second of the Mets’ two victories in the Bronx last month, but it was mistakenly ruled a foul ball by umpires.
There were no such problems with either of his drives Friday, and the Mets are hoping the big game was enough to get the aging slugger back on track.
“When he gets hot, he gets kind of stupid hot where he can put a team on his shoulders and carry them for a week or two at a time,” said David Wright, who tied a career high with four hits. “He’s got the ability to be one of the best run producers, RBI machines, in the league when he swings the bat the way he’s capable of.”
Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer and scored four runs as the Mets completed their first three-game winning streak and series sweep at Yankee Stadium.
The Mets and Yankees were rained out May 16, leading to the two-borough commute in the last year of both ballparks. The Mets got ready at Shea Stadium and their bus got a police escort to the Bronx. Both teams got the same treatment for the trip back to Queens.
The Mets arrived back at home just over an hour before the night game, with most players still in their gray road uniforms and carrying equipment as they made their way to their clubhouse. The Yankees arrived a little later, dressed in street clothes.
“It’s wonderful for fans,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, whose team got back to New York after midnight following a rainout at Pittsburgh. “Two games in one day, and one at each stadium, you know it’s very enjoyable for them.”
The Yankees placed Hideki Matsui on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Monday, after the loss and activated right-hander Sidney Ponson, who was scheduled to start the second game. Matsui has been bothered by a sore left knee.
The sellout crowd of 54,978 was split pretty evenly in the opener, with chants of “Let’s Go Mets!” followed by rounds of boos from Yankees fans. There was nothing but cheers when a security guard tackled a fan who ran on the field in the sixth.
Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with a long home run for the Yankees, who swept the previous three doubleheaders between the two teams. Rodriguez’s 15th homer of the season landed in Monument Park in the sixth.
Derek Jeter led off the Yankees’ three-run third with his 400th double, extending his season-best hitting streak to 14 games. Dan Giese (1-3) allowed six runs and five hits in four-plus innings.
“Some days you throw it and it goes where you want,” Giese said. “Some days it goes over the plate.”
Manuel improved to 5-4 since he was promoted from bench coach to manager, replacing Willie Randolph, a former Yankees star.
Mike Pelfrey (5-6) struggled through five innings but managed to get the win. He gave up four runs and eight hits.
Notes
Andy Phillips joined the Mets before the game and flied out to right as a pinch hitter in the ninth. The Mets claimed the former Yankees infielder off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. … Knicks first-round draft pick Danilo Gallinari is scheduled to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before Saturday’s game at Shea Stadium. … A squirrel ran through foul territory behind the plate and into the Mets dugout in the fifth inning, drawing some cheers from the fans sitting along the first-base line. … Mets 1B Fernando Tatis made two nice plays in the field - and two errors trying to throw to pitchers covering first.
