ATLANTA — Chipper Jones 999, Mets 0.
If that isn’t the official tally in the Jones vs. Mets battles in clutch situations over the years, it might as well be. The tally is certainly worthy of a line on Jones’ eventual Hall of Fame plaque.
Public Enemy No. 1 struck again yesterday with an eighth-inning RBI single for the Braves that sent the Mets to a 1-0 loss at Turner Field.
The Mets, who lost for the seventh time in eight games, failed to carry over momentum from the previous night, when they matched a season high with 20 hits and crushed the Braves, 12-2.
But this time they had to deal with Tim Hudson. The veteran right-hander allowed just four hits over eight innings, outdueling R.A. Dickey in the process. Dickey, who allowed three hits over 7 2/3 innings, walked Jason Heyward and Martin Prado in the eighth, setting the stage for Jones’ grounder through the middle that scored the decisive run.
“It had to be a fun game to watch,” Dickey said. “You know you don’t have a big margin for error.”
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Manager Terry Collins said the Mets likely would have struggled to remain competitive in the wild-card race even if they hadn’t traded Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez, but the manager does wonder “what if” in another regard.
“I allow myself the freedom once in a while to be disappointed that we didn’t get to put this team on the field the way it came out of spring training,” Collins said. “Had we be able to do that, I think we’re looking at a completely different package. I know every team has injuries, but we have not put our team on the field one time, and this is a team that could have made some noise.”
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Jason Isringhausen could be available to pitch later this week in St. Louis, according to Collins. The veteran right-hander remains sidelined with leg numbness after receiving an epidural last week to help placate a slipped disk in his back. Isringhausen’s last appearance came 12 days ago.
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Collins planned to call his close friend Jim Leyland to congratulate the Tigers manager on the team’s first division title since 1987. Collins worked as a coach under Leyland with the Pirates in the early 1990s.