ATLANTA – Rickey Henderson stole second base in the ninth inning Friday night with the Mets leading 7-2. In some baseball circles that is considered rubbing it in, and Bobby Valentine acknowledged he had not seen it done recently when he was managing.
“There’s an unwritten five-run rule,” Valentine said after the Mets ended up beating the Braves 10-2. “There’s also a rule that says if you don’t want the runner to steal, don’t hold him on [first base]. [Friday night] might have been the first time I had a score like that in recent memory when a base was stolen.”
Valentine said he doesn’t have steal sign, just a don’t-steal sign.
“Rickey has never seen the don’t-go sign,” he said.
Henderson said he wanted to get on second base to avoid a double-play situation, but it might be the kind of thing the Braves will remember, although none of the Braves said anything about it. *Mike Piazza was expected to play last night after missing two games with a mild concussion and a stiff neck. In the two games Todd Pratt played in place of Piazza – both wins – Pratt has gone 3-for-6 with two RBIs.
Pratt went 2-for-3 Friday with a run scored and two RBIs and stole his first career base, swiping second in the fourth inning. *Going into last night, Mets had a streak of 10 games without an error, a club record. They had only 33 errors on the season, the lowest total in baseball, and they have the highest fielding percentage in the NL at .987 … Friday night’s game started 45 minutes late because the lights weren’t working at Turner Field. The blown generator was fixed and the game started at 8:25 p.m. *Most of the Mets watched the end of the Knicks game in the clubhouse, and the final out of Cardinals pitcher Jose Jimenez’ no-hitter. Bobby Bonilla, who grew up in The Bronx, is a big Knicks fan and had the same sentiments as most New Yorkers.
“It was a valiant effort,” he said. “It was exciting. No one thought they could do what they did, but they did a helluva job.”