John Buck has been as good behind the plate as he has been at it since the start of spring training. He drove in four runs, caught a great game and was part of rare interference call in the Mets’ 7-3 win over Miami yesterday, underscoring exactly why the Amazin’s traded for him and what the Marlins gave away.
With the Mets clinging to a 3-2 lead in the seventh, Greg Dobbs hit a two-out single to right with Juan Pierre on second. Pierre scored as Buck fielded Mike Baxter’s throw about 10 feet wide of the plate. He had a play on Dobbs at second, until Pierre took him out.
Veteran home plate umpire Jim Joyce did not hesitate in calling Pierre for interference, ruling Dobbs out and ending the inning. The Mets regained the lead with three in the bottom of the inning, capped by Buck’s sacrifice fly for his fourth RBI.
“I felt like I had [Dobbs] … I went to throw the ball and my front foot wasn’t there all of a sudden for some reason,” Buck said. “I didn’t even see him. But it was weird. I was talking with Joyce behind the plate and he said, ‘In all my years I don’t think I’ve ever seen a play like that.’ ’’
Buck’s four RBIs — on a double down the third-base line and a pair of sac flies — were his most since Aug. 26, 2011, and gave him nine for the season and a .421 average.
“He’s all sorts of locked in right now,’’ Daniel Murphy said.
After Buck hit just .192 for Miami last year — and was traded along with Jose Reyes to Toronto — Collins wondered if Buck had “something to prove.’’ The veteran couldn’t have asked for a better start.
“Last year, if something could go wrong, it went wrong, and then I tried harder to fix it,” Buck said. “Obviously that’s easier said than done, not to try harder when you’re not getting it done. I made it a little harder on myself.”
Buck may have been viewed as a throw-in when the Mets traded R.A. Dickey to Toronto for highly touted catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, but he has been stellar since his arrival.
“Competition makes everybody better,’’ said Buck. “If [d’Arnaud] is playing well and I’m playing well, that’s a good problem to have.’’
Playing well is an understatement for Buck, who has also done well with the team’s younger pitchers.
“He never takes a pitch off, which I like,” said Jon Niese, who allowed just two runs [one earned] in six sterling innings. “He reads hitters well. We always have a good plan going into the game. It’s easy when you have a veteran catcher like that. All you have to do is follow him.”