Jason Pridie can walk with a little more pride now that he has a major-league home run on his resume.
The Mets center fielder, filling in for the injured Angel Pagan, cracked a three-run shot in the bottom of the third inning yesterday to help the Mets to their fourth straight victory with an 8-4 triumph over the Diamondbacks at Citi Field.
Pridie, who notched his first big-league hit the day before, crushed a 2-1 offering from Diamondbacks starter Armando Galarraga into the Mets’ bullpen in right-center field.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for years,” Pridie, 27, said. “You dream about this.
“I was trying to hold back a smile and get around those bases and wait to get in the dugout to crack a big grin.”
Pridie made his debut with the Twins in 2008, appeared in 10 games (no starts) and recorded only four at-bats. He made one appearance in 2009 as a pinch-runner.
The Mets picked up Pridie off waivers prior to last season, which he spent in the minors. He began this year at Triple-A Buffalo, where he was batting .186 with three home runs and six RBIs in 14 games before being called up Friday.
“I’ve been waiting for a couple of years to get to the big leagues
and be on a team where it matters, not just a September courtesy call-up,” Pridie said.
“I’ve been waiting and working and hoping to get the opportunity. They saw enough in me to bring me up here and thought I could help the club. It’s more about my defense, just making sure I’m solid in center.”
Yesterday, his bat was just as solid.
“Slider in,” Pridie said of his first big-league homer. “On 2-0, he threw me a change-up in, so I figured they were gonna be coming in again, and he just left it a little bit up.”
Pridie has plans for the
ball, which was retrieved by reliever Pedro Beato.
“Give it to my dad,” Pridie said.
“He should be here in a week. I got my first hit up there [on the shelf of his locker], and now I got my first home-run ball, so I’ll give it to my dad to take it right back to Arizona.”