Those Mets

BERNADINA CRUSHES METS

2 HOME RUNS, BASES LOADED CATCH & ROOKIE GIVES NATS BACK 2ND PLACE

In the Washington Nationals’ clubhouse in Citi Field, Roger Bernadina spoke softly while sitting next to a stereo blaring rap music. On Bernadina’s head sat an incongruous crown — a silver, oversized Elvis wig made of hard plastic. The surprising Nationals (19-15) award it after victories to their star of the game. And Bernadina certainly earned the wig on a dark, chilly Wednesday afternoon. In a 6-4 victory over the Mets (18-16), Bernadina hit the first two home runs of his major league career, including the game-winner in the ninth inning off Francisco Rodriguez. He also made a spectacular catch with the bases loaded to rob the Mets of three runs. After eight professional seasons, most of them in the minor leagues, Bernadina, who is 25 and hails from Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles, seems ready to make his mark. Meanwhile, in the Mets’ locker room, Jose Reyes, who is a year older than Bernadina and has far more major league experience, was left to explain the things he did incorrectly in the game, the type of failures that have put dents in his image. At that moment, he could only wish he were Bernadina. “You’ve got to be confident, you never can give up, you’ve got to keep fighting,” Bernadina said. “Right now things are going good. I always had confidence I’d be in the big leagues.” His second home run, a long blast to right-center field, broke a 4-4 tie. But it might not have been his best moment of the day. In the fifth inning, while playing right field, Bernadina raced back on a slicing line drive by Jeff Francoeur with two outs and the bases full. It looked as if the shot would turn into a three-run double that would put the Mets ahead, 7-4. Instead, it became the third out when Bernadina dived across the wet grass and speared the ball with the kind of effort that caused jaws, and the Mets’ spirits, to drop. “That ruined my day,” Francoeur said. “I’m ready to get out of here. He beat us. The guy dives out of nowhere. We had them on the ropes. We had a chance to put them away.” As for Reyes, he did double home a run in the fifth after making an inconsequential error in the top of the inning. More significantly, after the double, Reyes tried to move from second to third on a grounder to shortstop with one out. He has made the same blunder before, and once again he was thrown out easily. “Bad base-running,” Reyes said. “I need to do a better job. There’s no excuse for me to go there in that situation.” Then, in the seventh, with Alex Cora on first and no outs and the score still tied, 4-4, Reyes tried twice to put down a sacrifice bunt. Both attempts went foul. Reyes then ended the at-bat by hitting into a double play. His failure was reminiscent of what occurred in a nationally televised game last May against the Philadelphia Phillies, when, in extra innings, he was unable to bunt the go-ahead run to second base. Instead, he struck out. “I have to do my job,” Reyes said of the botched bunt attempts. Manager Jerry Manuel agreed, saying: “He was asked to sacrifice. He just didn’t get the job done. It’s not all his fault. But, obviously, you’d like to see him get that bunt down.” Reyes, batting third in recent weeks instead of in his customary leadoff position, is hitting .228. He missed most of 2009 with a hamstring injury, was slowed this spring by a thyroid ailment and has yet to have any real impact this season. The victory gave the Nationals two of three games over the Mets and put them back into sole possession of second place in the National League East, one game ahead of the Mets. The winning pitcher was Tyler Clippard (7-1), the third of four relief pitchers. Starter Craig Stammen allowed four runs in five innings, but also drove in three runs with two hits. As for Bernadina, his first homer came off Mets starter Mike Pelfrey, who blamed a pitch that drifted over the middle of the plate. “You make a pitch like that, the guy’s supposed to hit it,” Pelfrey said. The game-winning blast came on an 0-1 count when Rodriguez threw a pitch “pretty much down the middle,” Mets catcher Rod Barajas said. It was Bernadina’s third hit of the day. “You make mistakes to guys who are feeling good, they’re not going to miss those pitches,” Barajas said. Bernadina originally signed with the Montreal Expos as a nondrafted free agent on Nov. 3, 2001. A few weeks later, Omar Minaya became the Expos’ general manager. Minaya now runs the Mets. Bernadina said he saw Minaya “a couple times” when they were both with the Expos, but never really got to know him. He played just 10 games last season — three with the Nationals — because of a broken ankle. Now he is getting a real chance. “I’m still young, I work hard,” he said. “This is something I’ve been waiting a long time for.” Reyes, who made his Mets debut back in 2003, had to acknowledge Bernadina, even before Bernadina and the Elvis wig had left the building. “He had a great game,” Reyes said. “There’s nothing else you can say.”