MET NOTES
The Mets beat the Yankees 3-0 in 10 innings yesterday with a 22-man roster as Robin Ventura, Benny Agbayani and Rick White were all unavailable.
As expected, Ventura sat out with his strained right shoulder. Agbayani left for Hawaii to be with his wife, Niela, who was having the couple’s first baby. White returned to Ohio to be with his grandmother, who passed away yesterday.
Ventura, who strained his shoulder diving for a ball on Friday, will probably sit tonight and will use the All-Star break to be ready for the second half of the season, which will begin Thursday.
“Probably not,” Ventura said.
Agbayani left at 6 a.m. yesterday to be with his wife and new baby girl, Aleia. With a 10-hour flight, it was doubtful Agbayani would actually make it to Hawaii to see the birth. Agbayani will also miss tonight’s game and will return Thursday as well.
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Edgardo Alfonzo drew a 3-2 two-out walk to allow Mike Piazza to have a chance to win the game against Mariano Rivera. Alfonzo said he feels as if he is starting to return to form. Fonzie went 0-for-4, but drove the ball to the wall in the eighth . . . Armando Benitez just said it felt very good to get the save at the site where he blew Game 1 of the World Series last October. Benitez has yet to blow a save this year. . . . Valentine was hopeful Tsuyoshi Shinjo, on the DL with a quad problem, would be ready to go on a minor-league rehab.
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GM Steve Phillips said, given the Mets’ plight, there are guys he would trade today that he wouldn’t have dealt a few weeks back. However, Phillips maintains that any deal the club makes would focus on helping the club in the near future. Still, Met trades probably won’t heat up until the end of this month when the Mets will likely trade guys like Dennis Cook, White and possibly Todd Zeile and Rey Ordonez.
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Desi Relaford started for Ventura at third and scored the winning run. Joe McEwing, who started in left, extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the third. McEwing then appeared to have stolen second after a high throw from Jorge Posada. But umpire Dale Scott ruled him out . . . Bobby Valentine started Mark Johnson in right yesterday, because he wanted him to take advantage of the short porch in right. Johnson was 1-for-4.