Rays/MLB

Dodgers make themselves a running joke

After two L.A. players are tagged out at the plate on the same play, the Mets hang on to win their playoff opener.

By MARC TOPKIN
Published October 5, 2006

NEW YORK - There were a lot of things the Mets did right in Wednesday's 6-5 National League division series opening win. They got a solid start from rookie John Maine in place of injured Orlando Hernandez, a big four-hit effort from Carlos Delgado in his first postseason game, another clutch hit from David Wright and some huge outs by their effective and somewhat entertaining bullpen.

But it was something the Dodgers did wrong - horribly, hilariously wrong - that may end up defining the game, costing them the momentum in the best-of-five series and earning them a humiliating place in baseball history.

"This is what happened," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "It was a terrible baserunning blunder that we had to pay for."

This is what happened:

With runners on first and second and no outs in the second, Russell Martin hit a drive into the rightfield corner. Jeff Kent, breaking slowly from second, was out at the plate after a pair of perfect throws from rightfielder Shawn Green and second baseman Jose Valentin. J.D. Drew, running too closely behind Kent, tried to score, too, and Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca turned around just in time to tag him out.

"It was a weird play that turned into a huge play," Lo Duca said. "It was like something out of a movie."

A slapstick comedy for the guys from Hollywood, anyway.

Kent said he couldn't tell if the ball was going to be caught or not, then finally decided to run. Third-base coach Rich Donnelly said he was going to hold Kent at third when he realized how close Drew was, so he had to wave Kent home, joking that he almost yelled to home plate umpire John Hirschbeck, "Hold on, here comes another." Drew said he saw Donnelly waving and thought the sign was for him, was on the way home before he realized what happened, hesitated, then figured he had no choice but to try to score.

"In hindsight, if I'd kept running I might have been safe, but I was mind-boggled by the whole thing," Drew said.

"It's one of those situations where, what do you do about it?"

As it happened, even Lo Duca wasn't sure what to do.

Manager Willie Randolph was screaming at him from the dugout. Maine from behind home. Wright and Delgado from infield corners. Lo Duca didn't hear any of them. He got spun around a bit when he tagged Kent and was waiting for Hirschbeck to make the call when he realized something might be up.

"It was like, 'He's out, but you better watch out - someone else is coming,' " Lo Duca said.

Said Green: "Just when you think you've seen it all something like this happens."

Actually, Randolph had seen it before. He was in the Yankees dugout on Aug. 2, 1985, when Bobby Meacham and Dale Berra were tagged out at the plate on the same play by Carlton Fisk. "Total flashback," Randolph said.

The Mets had a lot to remember. With Pedro Martinez out and Hernandez (torn muscle in his right calf) stunningly sidelined Tuesday, Maine pitched into the fifth. After the Dodgers erased a 4-1 deficit with three in the seventh, the Mets came right back to take the lead off an ineffective Brad Penny. Delgado, who homered earlier, singled in one run and Wright blooped a double to right to score another. Closer Billy Wagner finished.

The Dodgers just want to forget.

"We've been in L.A. all season, we certainly know something about traffic jams," Little said. "And we had one there."

NLDS

mets 1, dodgers 0

WEDNESDAY: Mets 6, Dodgers 5

TONIGHT: at New York, 8, Ch. 13

Dodgers LHP H. Kuo 1-5 4.22

Mets LHP T. Glavine 15-7 3.82

Saturday: at Los Angeles, TBA

SUNDAY: at Los Angeles, TBA*

MONDAY: at New York, TBA*

* if necessary

[Last modified October 5, 2006, 02:10:21]