Ryan Church Misses Third Base as Error-Prone Mets Lose to Dodgers in 11th Inning

Ryan Church and the New York Mets were, to say the least, error-prone during their game against the Dodgers last night at Dodger Stadium. The Mets committed a total of five errors, with two coming in the 11^th inning. The Dodgers won the game by a score of 3-2.

It appeared as though the Mets took a one-run lead when Angel Pagan blasted a shot off the wall in right-center field off a pitch by Ramon Troncoso. Ryan Church scored the go-ahead run while Angel Pagan advanced to third base. But, Dodgers third baseman Mark Loretta noticed that Ryan Church did not tag third base and thus called for the ball and stepped on third.

Umpire Mike DiMuro saw the exact same thing as Mark Loretta and therefore called Ryan Church out. Television replays confirmed that Ryan Church just missed the third base bag and ran past it.

So the game was still tied at two. At the bottom of the 11^th inning, the aforementioned Mark Loretta walked followed by a fly ball hit to left center field by Xavier Paul. It should have been any easy out for the Mets, but, apparently, Angel Pagan got in Carlos Beltran's way and Beltran ended up dropping the ball. Then Orland Hudson hit a grounder that should have climaxed into a double play, but Mets first basemen Jeremy Reed hurled a wild one to home plate, and Mark Loretta scored the winning run.

Indeed, it was great night for Mark Loretta.

And it was a great night for me too. I'm not going to lie to you, dear reader, I'm delighted with the flurry of errors committed by the Mets because they were playing my beloved Dodgers, who won the game by a score of 3-2 in the 11^th inning.

As a lifelong Dodgers fan, you can imagine how disappointed I was when slugger Manny Ramirez was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

The Dodgers won their first 13 home games (a modern-era record) but, unfortunately, lost three out of the next four games in the wake of Manny Ramirez's ouster. But now their record is a respectable 15-3 at Dodger Stadium and they lead the league with a record of 27-13.

The Dodgers have not been to the World Series since 1988. Maybe this is their year?

Keep hope alive, Dodgers fans.

Source:

Mets Dumfounded by Their Mistakes, Ben Shpigel, The New York Times, May 19, 2009