Jason Bay hasn’t produced like a cleanup hitter since coming to the Mets, but before last night’s game, Jerry Manuel said again that he was not ready to bump him down the lineup.
“I continue to believe that this is the right setup for us,” Manuel said. “I’m gonna try to be patient as much as I can.”
And Bay rewarded Manuel in the first with an RBI double to center, scoring Jose Reyes.
The hit snapped an 0-for-14 streak for Bay.
“I worked on a ton of stuff to try to simplify a few things,” Bay said after going 1-for-4 in the 6-4 win over the Giants.
He is still hitting just .238 with 10 RBIs on the year.
“The past few games, I’ve been fighting things,” Bay said. “Now I have a base to work with. The past week I was trying to find anything.”
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The Mets will find out today if Johan Santana‘s last start — the worst outing of his career — was just an aberration or a sign of trouble.
Manuel isn’t too worried about the 3 2/3-inning, 10-run performance Santana suffered in an 11-5 loss in Philadelphia on Sunday.
“I kind of throw that one out,” Manuel said. “He’s been very good for a long time and a tremendous competitor. I expect to see something a little different than what happened last time out.”
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David Wright‘s infield single to second in the sixth extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He’s hitting .395 (15-for-38) with 11 RBIs during that stretch. . . . The Mets had an uncharacteristically sloppy game in the field, committing three errors — the most they have all year. They also stole three bases for the first time.