Mets lose on Wright's throwing error in ninth

ATLANTA - The Mets are again in the cellar of the National League East. But no one feels lower right now than David Wright and the former All-Star may have reached rock bottom during Tuesday night's 3-2 loss to the Braves at Turner Field.

Wright whiffed three times to extend his career-high streak of consecutive games with a strikeout to 15 and the worst of the hat trick came in the ninth inning. With one out, and Luis Castillo at third base, Wright struck out on four pitches, the last a 96-mph fastball from Billy Wagner (3-0).

As if Wright already didn't feel terrible enough, he had the game in his hands during the bottom of the ninth, too - and threw it away. With pinch runner Brent Clevlen at second base, and none out, Melky Cabrera hit a bouncer toward Wright, who charged in to scoop the ball on the run. But his off-balance throw tailed into the runner, then past Ike Davis to allow Clevlen to score the winning run.

"Baseball can be a tough and humbling game sometimes," Wright said, "and right now, it is for me. The guys are fighting hard and doing a good job. But it's tough when someone goes out there and plays as poorly as I am. I'm costing us both offensively and defensively."

Even before Tuesday night's game unraveled for Wright, and the Mets slipped to 1-5 on this road trip, Jerry Manuel talked about giving his third baseman a day off very soon. The Mets now have two games in D.C. and Manuel said he will likely get Wright a breather before this weekend's Subway Series.

When told that his manager intends to give him a break, Wright disagreed with that strategy, despite the fact that he's hitting .130 (3-for-23) on this trip with 11 strikeouts.

"That could be one of the worst things right now," Wright said. "I kind of want to get out there and get this taste out of my mouth."

There's also the possibility that Wright's funk could get worse, and that's what Manuel seems most worried about in watching him swing and miss at such an alarming rate.

"We have to get his spirits up," Manuel said. "We have to try to come up with a better plan for two strikes. It's something that we visit from time to time, but it's getting to the point where he is very frustrated with it by his responses lately."

In the fourth inning, Wright saw four straight fastballs from Braves starter Kris Medlen before striking out on an 82-mph changeup. Afterward, Wright stood a few feet from home plate and first flung his bat and then his helmet onto the grass in front of the dugout. That was only the beginning of his stomach-turning night.

"You can feel so lost at one point and so good at one point," said Jeff Francoeur, who snapped his own 0-for-20 skid with a fifth-inning home run. "It's one of those things that the harder you try sometimes, the worse things can get. David's going to hit; he always has and always will."

With the Mets trailing 2-0, Francoeur and Ike Davis both homered in the fifth inning to tie the score. Santana allowed only a two-run homer to Troy Glaus in his seven innings, but still wound up with his third straight no-decision. He retired the last 13 hitters he faced before Pedro Feliciano replaced him, and the Mets' troubles began in the ninth when Brian McCann opened with a single.

In came Jenrry Mejia, who walked Yunel Escobar, and Cabrera followed with the grounder at Wright. By then, the Mets were in a tough spot, anyway, but Wright's throwing error ended the suspense. Afterward, Davis tried to take the bullet.

"I kind of hit Melky in the ribs with my glove," Davis said. "Melky didn't get in the way, but I need to catch that ball. It wasn't a bad throw at all."

Maybe in Davis' mind, but there was no deflecting the blame away from Wright on Tuesday night.