When you’re a left-handed pitcher and Sandy Koufax gives you advice, it’s probably a good idea to listen.
That’s what Mets starter Chris Capuano did during spring training, and he believes the tips he got from the Hall of Famer have helped him this season, which is why he wanted to thank Koufax when the former Dodgers star showed up at Citi Field before yesterday’s 7-3 loss to the Angels.
Koufax suggested Capuano start “hooking the rubber,” meaning that instead of standing with one foot in front of the rubber, a pitcher puts the back of his cleat or half of a foot on the rubber.
“It allows you to get more drive towards home plate,” said Capuano, who has pitched well in four of his past five starts. “And it’s worked for me.”
The adjustment did not come without some problems — it made his knee sore for a few weeks — but Capuano, who is scheduled to pitch Thursday against the A’s, stayed with it.
“I was little worried about it at first, but it feels good,” Capuano said.
And that wasn’t all Capuano discussed with Koufax.
“We talked about pitching philosophy in general,” he said. “You definitely listen more to someone like that. . . . When you talk to a legend like that, it brings it home that it’s the same game. It’s nice that he’s been watching me and giving me feedback.”
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Justin Turner made a throwing error at third base to start the fifth that led to an Angels run, but refused to blame the miscue on his bruised right thumb, which he ices after every game after jamming it earlier in the month.
“No excuses,” said Turner, who has made more than one errant throw lately from third, where he’s filling in for David Wright. “I just didn’t make the throw.”
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Ruben Tejada broke an 0-for-16 skid with an infield hit to lead off the bottom of the fifth. He added another single and a run in the ninth, and is hitting .283. . . . Jose Reyes avoided going hitless on consecutive days for the first time since May 19-20, and just the second time all year, with a ninth-inning RBI single. . . . Manny Acosta had a rough outing, giving up a pair of homers in his two innings of work.