Mets general manager Omar Minaya gave a simple assessment of Carlos Beltran.
“He looks like he’s getting into one of those streaks,” Minaya said.
And that would be a good streak. Not one of those streaks in which sharps objects are kept away from the center fielder. Or one of those streaks like the one he ended last night, a home run drought that carried back to July 13 and covered 82 at-bats.
Nope, Beltran is on an 8-for-18 homestand streak – including a monster 3-of-3, three RBI effort in last night’s 8-6 win over the Marlins at Shea Stadium – that has raised his average to .276, the highest it has been since June 27.
“I come to the ball park every day to try to feel good at the plate and (this) was one of those days where I saw the ball good and I was capable to put the ball in play,” said Beltran, who doubled in two runs in the first, singled in the third, was intentionally walked in the fifth and blasted a solo homer in the seventh. “(Fortunately), nobody was there to catch it.”
Yeah, the umps might have frowned if Florida tried sticking an outfielder in the parking lot.
Manager Jerry Manuel has tried different slots in the order to jump-start Beltran’s bat. Last night, he had him back at cleanup – and Manuel loved what he saw.
“When he can hit a 96 MPH pitch out of the park in center field, that’s impressive,” Manuel said. “You knew he was going to heat up at some point. He’s too good of a player not to.”
Beltran’s homer, from the left side against Matt Lindstrom (his other hits were from the right side off Florida’s lefty starter, Scott Olsen) stretched the Mets’ lead to a comfy 8-4 that quickly became a sweaty 8-6. So that swat was nice insurance.
“I feel better from the right side than the left but in that particular at bat, I was feeling my legs,” he said. “As a hitter that’s what you look for; that and see the ball hit the ball. There are times you get caught up in thinking too much and that’s when things don’t go the way you want.”