MET NOTES
Last night produced two key late scratches, the most alarming being Rey Ordonez.
Ordonez had pulled a neck muscle trying to deke Pittsburgh catcher Jason Kendall in a play at the plate Friday night. He played the next two nights, but manager Bobby Valentine said Ordonez aggravated the muscle trying to dive for a ball on the Pirates’ home turf.
Valentine acknowledged that yesterday’s cold, windy weather probably would only lead to more discomfort and stiffness.
“Rey’s real sore,” Valentine said. “He got a little whiplash [on the turf dive]. He’s having a real hard time moving his head up and to the left.”
Kurt Abbott started at short last night.
Rickey Henderson was the other late removal. He was hit by a pitch on the thumb Sunday. While the blood was drained out to reduce swelling, Henderson told Valentine he wasn’t ready to play after he hit a ball off the same thumb in the batting cage yesterday afternoon.
Jon Nunnally batted leadoff and, for the umpteenth time this year, Henderson’s replacement proved what you can get with hustle in the first inning.
Nunnally, who entered the game batting .300, skied a ball to short center and roared around the bases so that when the pop fell between three defenders, Nunnally was safely on second. He eventually came around to score the first run of a four-run inning.
GM Steve Phillips wanted to clarify that he has never said he thought that Bobby Valentine might have lied to him about Whartongate.
“I did not say that I flew to Pittsburgh because Bobby Valentine lied to me,” Phillips said. “I needed a clarification on what I heard Thursday and what I read on Friday.”
Phillips wouldn’t clarify yesterday if he thought that Valentine had lied or not. “I refuse to discuss details of a private conversation,” Phillips said.
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As expected, the Mets purchased the contract of righthanded knuckleballer Dennis Springer from Triple-A Norfolk. He will be added to the 40-man roster with righty Bobby Jones going on the 15-day DL.
That means the 35-year-old Springer will have to pass through waivers if he is sent down when Jones recovers. He also could be traded. Springer said he and his agent were already getting a little antsy in the minors.
“If it hadn’t happened now,” Springer said of the call up, “I would have had to put together a string of really good games and tried to make them do something. I know a lot of teams need pitching and I would hope somebody would say, ‘Let’s see what he’s done in the past and take a chance.'”