CINCINNATI — Jason Bay and the Mets can start their own radio station here: WKRAP in Cincinnati.
Yesterday, for the second time in three days, manager Jerry Manuel’s bunch walked off the field against the Reds in extra innings with fireworks exploding in the background, celebrating a Cincinnati walkoff win.
The culprit this time was Orlando Cabrera, whose shot off the left-field foul pole against Pedro Feliciano sent the Mets to a 5-4 loss in 10 innings at Great American Ball Park.
METS CAN’T AFFORD CLOSE LOSSES
But as much as Cabrera’s blast hurt — two days after Laynce Nix homered in the 11th for the Reds — Bay has also crushed the Mets.
The $66 million left fielder stranded six runners yesterday and finished the series 0-for-12 with just one RBI. He is batting .238 with a homer and nine RBIs.
When do the Wilpons get their rebate check in the mail?
“It’s painful,” Bay said after the Mets completed a 2-4 road trip that followed that historic 9-1 homestand.
“There are a lot of guys doing a lot of good things offensively to help us win, and I’m not one of them. It’s a massive funk.”
Manuel said removing Bay from the cleanup spot is not an option.
“Since we’ve had a little bit of success here, we’re going to try and ride it out as long as possible,” Manuel said. “He has a history of being somewhat streaky, and hopefully he’ll get in one of those good streaks when he goes home.” The Mets open a three-game series against the Giants at Citi Field tomorrow night after an off-day today.
Bay’s last chance on the road trip came in the seventh, when he struck out against Arthur Rhodes with two outs and two runners aboard. In the bottom of the inning, Manuel yanked Bay as part of a double-switch. The manager later admitted he wouldn’t have made the move if Bay were producing.
“I completely understood it,” Bay said. “You’re scuffling a little bit and you want to help out, but I completely understand the move. That’s baseball.”
The Mets were brutal with runners on base all day but managed to turn Frank Catalanotto’s ninth-inning leadoff single against Francisco Cordero into a run to make it 4-4.
Feliciano then replaced Hisanori Takahashi, who had given the Mets three shutout innings of relief. Cabrera, the first batter Feliciano faced, homered on a 3-1 pitch.
With the Mets leading 1-0 in the third inning, Bay left the bases loaded by flying out against Johnny Cueto. In the fifth inning, with the game 2-2, Bay struck out to leave Alex Cora stranded at third.
“I’m sure [Bay] has been through something like this before,” Manuel said. “For me, it’s different, because I haven’t witnessed it before. The only way to get out of it is keep going out there.”
Mets starter Jon Niese, following his four-hit gem over seven innings Friday in Philadelphia, struggled. The lefty allowed 12 hits over six innings but did not walk a batter, perhaps saving him from a complete whipping. He allowed four earned runs and exited with the Mets trailing, 4-3.
Brandon Phillips’ second homer in as many games, a solo blast in the fifth, gave the Reds a 3-2 lead before Jonny Gomes hit a solo homer later in the inning.
David Wright’s fourth homer on the road trip, a solo blast to right leading off the sixth, pulled the Mets within a run.
“You just feel like we were 2-4 on the road trip and had a chance to win three of the four [losses],” Jeff Francoeur said. “It’s obviously very frustrating for us. We feel we played a lot better.”