ATLANTA — David Wright wasn’t about to celebrate a personal milestone on a day his team played so badly.
But the Mets third baseman yesterday acknowledged tying Darryl Strawberry for the franchise’s all-time lead in RBIs was special. Wright knocked in three runs in the Mets’ 14-6 loss to the Braves, tying him with Strawberry, who had 733 career RBIs with the club.
The tying RBI came in the fifth on a single against Jair Jurrjens.
“When you’re classified with a guy like Straw, a guy that I grew up idolizing and trying to mimic his swing, I think it’s an honor to be in that group,” Wright said. “I guess you will enjoy it more when you’re done. But right now it doesn’t mean all that much because we just got our tails beat up pretty bad.”
Wright said as a youngster he used to emulate Strawberry’s leg kick at the plate.
The way Wright’s season is going, the franchise’s all-time RBI mark might be just the start of something special. He is batting .500 after going 2-for-5 yesterday.
“Right now he reminds me of what I saw of Jeff Bagwell in 1994 when he was the MVP of the National League,” said Terry Collins, who managed the Astros from 1994-96. “He doesn’t waste an at-bat — there was not an at-bat [Bagwell] gave away, and David is on one of those kind of streaks right now.”
Wright is the first Mets player since Mike Cameron in 2002 to reach base at least twice in his first nine games of the season.
➤ With Ruben Tejada on the bench for a rest, Kirk Nieuwenhuis batted leadoff for the first time in the majors, finishing 3-for-4 with a stolen base and RBI.
“I’ve done it before,” Nieuwenhuis said, referring to batting leadoff in the minor leagues. “It’s not really too big an adjustment for me, I guess. I’m just trying to get on base for the big boys — that is what it’s all about.”
Nieuwenhuis has a six-game hitting streak, during which he is 9-for-20 (.450).
➤ Collins said he will look for opportunities to get Mike Baxter and Justin Turner into the lineup in the coming days.