After a 3-0 start, Jones hasn’t registered a victory in his last six outings. Jones now has lost three straight decisions. Phillies9Mets3 The new Mets’ hero, Benny Agbayani, and pitcher Bobby Jones left the Shea Stadium field for good yesterday at nearly the same moment – both victims of sudden crashes during the third inning.
Agbayani was carried out on a motorized cart. Jones left on his own two feet but felt just as miserable after crashing and burning by putting the Mets in a 5-0 hole during a 9-3 loss to the Phillies.
During Jones’ meltdown, Agbayani slammed his left knee into the padded side wall along the right-field line, chasing a fly by Mike Lieberthal in foul territory. The Mets’ worst fears were not realized, however. The red-hot Hawaiian underwent X- rays, and the injury turned out to be a bruised left knee cap; he is listed as day-to-day. Agbayani had 13 hits in his last 17 at-bats entering yesterday’s game, in which he went 0-for-1.
While Agbayani was being attended to by the Mets’ training staff in right field, Bobby Valentine understandably came to the mound to give Jones (3-3) the hook. Jones trudged off to boos after allowing five earned runs in 22/3 innings – all with two outs.
After a 3-0 start, Jones hasn’t registered a victory in his last six outings. Jones now has lost three straight decisions. In The Post’s “Down The Line” column on Friday, scouts claim Jones’ fastball has dipped to 83-86 MPH, down from between 88 and 91.
Jones seemed to be OK until there were two outs in the second inning. Then he suddenly couldn’t get a batter out as the Phillies’ bottom of the order rocked the Mets’ right-hander. The Phillies scored four runs during a rally that featured back-to-back triples and a double.
Lieberthal, seventh in the order, legged out a triple to start the two-out splurge in the second. The catcher, who later iced the contest with a three-run, ninth-inning homer, took advantage of Agbayani’s modest speed in getting to the ball in the right-field corner.
Desi Relaford followed it up by tagging a triple to right-center. With pitcher Paul Byrd up, Jones appeared to be out of a jam. But the ex-Met, on a 1-2 pitch, lunged at a hanging curve and golfed a soft line single to left to score Relaford.
Clearly shaken, Jones walked Doug Glanville on a 3-2 pitch, prompting pitching coach Bob Apodaca’s visit to the mound as reliever Pat Mahomes got going in the pen.
The brief chat didn’t help as Marlon Anderson drove a double down the right-field line, scoring two runs. Jones got out of the inning by retiring Scott Rolen on a groundout but Jones was in store for more two-out trouble in the third.
After retiring Rico Brogna on a groundout and striking out Ron Gant, Jones got ahead of Bobby Abreu 0-2. Shockingly, Jones unleashed his suspect heater that Abreau crushed 379 feet over the right-center field wall for a 5-0 Phillies’ lead.
Lieberthal then chased both Jones and Agbayani from the game as he hit a high pop down the right-field line. Agbayani dove awkwardly and he slid knee-first into the side wall as the ball bounced in foul territory. Agbayani stayed down for several minutes and Valentine finally decided to take out Jones during the delay to take advantage of a double switch. Jermaine Allensworth replaced Agbayani in right.
Mahomes, promoted May 14 from Norfolk, stymied the Phillies, going 41/3, allowing just one run and two hits, but the Mets were unable to rally strongly against Byrd, who beat them for the second time in six days. The return of Rickey Henderson (0-for-4, walk) to the lineup had no impact.
In the eighth, Luis Lopez, inserted earlier for Edgardo Alfonzo, hit a two-out, two-run single off reliever Yorkis Perez to slash the deficit to 6-3. But pinch-hitter, Brian McRae, representing the tying run, was struck out on a 3-2 splitter to end the threat.
In the ninth, Lieberthal belted a three-run homer off Dennis Cook to make it a laugher.