At a point during the at-bat, fans were chanting for Endy Chavez. He was up in a key spot, the fan favorite hitting with the bases loaded in the seventh and the Mets down a run.
Chavez then knocked a grounder to short, and Jimmy Rollins started an inning-ending double play.
Unfortunately, it could be considered a triple play.
Two outs came on the groundout and relay, but the third blow came with Chavez suffering a pulled left hamstring that appeared to be severe, a horrible development in the Mets’ 4-2 loss to the Phillies.
“It doesn’t look too good,” manager Willie Randolph said of Chavez.
It’s far from good. The Mets, already with two starting outfielders on the disabled list and a third who just came back from missing time, lost their main backup in the defeat, which featured Aaron Heilman blowing the lead right before Chavez got hurt.
Chavez had to be helped off the field, and he’ll have an MRI exam today.
Asked how he felt after the game, Chavez replied, “pain.” He said he is unsure of the severity of the injury.
“I have no idea,” Chavez said. “I’m a little surprised and scared about it because I never had it before, so I don’t know what it’s going to be.”
It’s unknown how long Chavez will be out, and his injury to adds to the Mets’ outfield woes. Moises Alou is on the DL with a strained left quad and isn’t set to come back yet. Shawn Green is on the DL with a broken bone in his right foot, though he could be back on Sunday. Carlos Beltran is playing, but he just appeared in his second game last night after missing three-plus games with a bruised right knee.
Lastings Milledge is out with a sprained ligament in his right foot, and Damion Easley (nine career outfield appearances) has an ailing right knee. If Chavez – who’s appeared in 47 of 57 games, trailing only Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and David Wright – is out for an extended period, the Mets may have to find another outfielder.
Chavez, who had trouble sitting after the game, should be put on the DL today, with Jose Valentin set to be activated after a partially torn ACL. Valentin’s comeback will help, but the Mets may need to add another outfielder, too. Triple-A options likely would be Chip Ambres or Ricky Ledee.
“Teams go through it,” Wright said of injuries. “You look across town.”
As for Heilman, he blew a 2-0 lead in the seventh. The righty, who’s been shaky this year, entered in relief after Orlando Hernandez tossed six shutout innings. Heilman gave up a walk and a single before Rollins drove a changeup over the right-field wall to put the Phillies ahead 3-2.
“It’s very tough,” Heilman said. “It’s a shame to let a start like that go to waste.”
The Mets, who’ve lost three straight for the first time this year, still lead the Braves by 3 ½ games. Philly trails by six.
Hernandez gave up three hits in his six innings. He’s allowed a mere two earned runs in his last 32 innings, and his ERA is 1.94.