TERRIBLE CALL GIVES METS WINBLOWN CALL SAVES BLOWN SAVE
A blown save was counteracted by a blown call Sunday, and the Mets escaped from San Francisco with a victory they were happy to take but might not have deserved. After Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez blew a save opportunity for the fifth time by allowing two runs in the ninth inning, the plate umpire Phil Cuzzi missed a call at home plate that television replays demonstrated should have given the San Francisco Giants the game. Instead, the Mets escaped from San Francisco with a gift-wrapped but hotly disputed 4-3 victory in 10 innings. “He missed it,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said angrily of the call. With those three words, he essentially declared his team was robbed of a victory that would have given it a four-game sweep of the Mets. Travis Ishikawa slid into the plate in the ninth inning of a tie game with what appeared to be the winning run, but Cuzzi, the target of criticism from both teams throughout the game, called him out. Mets catcher Henry Blanco, who had a vested interest otherwise, admitted Ishikawa was safe. Blanco had been outraged and frustrated by Cuzzi’s calls and behavior Sunday. Even he, however, had to acknowledge that Cuzzi’s bad call saved the Mets from what should have been a crushing defeat. “He was safe all the way,” Blanco said, “so I don’t know what. Good for us.” Given a new life, the Mets scored in the top of the 10th after Jason Bay singled with two outs and Ike Davis, who hit two home runs Saturday, brought him home with a double off the wall in right field. Mets starter Johan Santana delivered his fourth brilliant outing in a row, but he was lifted in favor of Rodriguez in the ninth after throwing 115 pitches through eight innings, and that was when things got crazy. Rodriguez, who was given the victory, walked the leadoff batter Pablo Sandoval, then gave up a single to Juan Uribe. Eli Whiteside sacrificed the runners to second and third, bringing Ishikawa to the plate. It was during that at-bat that Cuzzi and Rodriguez got into a dispute. After a close 1-0 pitch was called a ball, Rodriguez stared at Cuzzi, who responded with a vehement hand gesture, which Blanco said was an angry call for Rodriguez to get back on the mound. “I hope somebody sees that and punishes him,” Blanco said. “That’s one thing that should never happen in a baseball game. It doesn’t matter how mad you are, it should not happen, especially from them. I hope somebody was watching that. “He missed a lot of pitches, not only from us, from them, too. It was bad all game long, so I’m happy we got the win. That’s how it is.” After the argument, Ishikawa drilled a single into center field that scored pinch-runner Edgar Renteria and Uribe to tie the score, 3-3. Giants center fielder Andres Torres followed with a double into the right-field corner, sending Ishikawa to third with one out. Then with the infield in, second baseman Freddy Sanchez hit a bouncer to third base. David Wright, who hit his 15th home run in the fourth inning, threw high toward home plate, forcing Blanco to jump for the ball. It appeared that Ishikawa slid safely under Blanco’s tag, but Cuzzi called him out. Cuzzi said that he had not seen a replay but that he felt Ishikawa’s foot came up off the plate. “I’ll look at it,” he said with a tone of resignation, “but I figured I’d eat first.” The shocked Giants and their fans protested, especially after television replays in the stadium supported their argument that Ishikawa should have been called safe with the winning run. Rodriguez finally got Aubrey Huff to ground out to send the game into extra innings, where the Mets took full advantage. “I’m thinking the worm has turned,” Manager Jerry Manuel said. “Things are turning around for us. I thought that this was a game for us to win. I really didn’t think that baseball would send us through another inning and still lose; here it is, you took it back. I didn’t think they would send us through that pain of extra innings and lose the game.”
A blown save was counteracted by a blown call Sunday, and the Mets escaped from San Francisco with a victory they were happy to take but might not have deserved. After Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez blew a save opportunity for the fifth time by allowing two runs in the ninth inning, the plate umpire Phil Cuzzi missed a call at home plate that television replays demonstrated should have given the San Francisco Giants the game. Instead, the Mets escaped from San Francisco with a gift-wrapped but hotly disputed 4-3 victory in 10 innings. “He missed it,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said angrily of the call. With those three words, he essentially declared his team was robbed of a victory that would have given it a four-game sweep of the Mets. Travis Ishikawa slid into the plate in the ninth inning of a tie game with what appeared to be the winning run, but Cuzzi, the target of criticism from both teams throughout the game, called him out. Mets catcher Henry Blanco, who had a vested interest otherwise, admitted Ishikawa was safe. Blanco had been outraged and frustrated by Cuzzi’s calls and behavior Sunday. Even he, however, had to acknowledge that Cuzzi’s bad call saved the Mets from what should have been a crushing defeat. “He was safe all the way,” Blanco said, “so I don’t know what. Good for us.” Given a new life, the Mets scored in the top of the 10th after Jason Bay singled with two outs and Ike Davis, who hit two home runs Saturday, brought him home with a double off the wall in right field. Mets starter Johan Santana delivered his fourth brilliant outing in a row, but he was lifted in favor of Rodriguez in the ninth after throwing 115 pitches through eight innings, and that was when things got crazy. Rodriguez, who was given the victory, walked the leadoff batter Pablo Sandoval, then gave up a single to Juan Uribe. Eli Whiteside sacrificed the runners to second and third, bringing Ishikawa to the plate. It was during that at-bat that Cuzzi and Rodriguez got into a dispute. After a close 1-0 pitch was called a ball, Rodriguez stared at Cuzzi, who responded with a vehement hand gesture, which Blanco said was an angry call for Rodriguez to get back on the mound. “I hope somebody sees that and punishes him,” Blanco said. “That’s one thing that should never happen in a baseball game. It doesn’t matter how mad you are, it should not happen, especially from them. I hope somebody was watching that. “He missed a lot of pitches, not only from us, from them, too. It was bad all game long, so I’m happy we got the win. That’s how it is.” After the argument, Ishikawa drilled a single into center field that scored pinch-runner Edgar Renteria and Uribe to tie the score, 3-3. Giants center fielder Andres Torres followed with a double into the right-field corner, sending Ishikawa to third with one out. Then with the infield in, second baseman Freddy Sanchez hit a bouncer to third base. David Wright, who hit his 15th home run in the fourth inning, threw high toward home plate, forcing Blanco to jump for the ball. It appeared that Ishikawa slid safely under Blanco’s tag, but Cuzzi called him out. Cuzzi said that he had not seen a replay but that he felt Ishikawa’s foot came up off the plate. “I’ll look at it,” he said with a tone of resignation, “but I figured I’d eat first.” The shocked Giants and their fans protested, especially after television replays in the stadium supported their argument that Ishikawa should have been called safe with the winning run. Rodriguez finally got Aubrey Huff to ground out to send the game into extra innings, where the Mets took full advantage. “I’m thinking the worm has turned,” Manager Jerry Manuel said. “Things are turning around for us. I thought that this was a game for us to win. I really didn’t think that baseball would send us through another inning and still lose; here it is, you took it back. I didn’t think they would send us through that pain of extra innings and lose the game.”
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