i missed what happen. why did he leave the game today ?
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It hasn't been reported on TBS yet. He just ran off the field after striking out Andruw, a lot like people do when they strike out someone for the third out of the inning - problem is, it was the 1st out. He had been holding his neck shortly before the injury, so I guess it was something to do with that.Comment -
thanks for the update razz.Comment -
"discomfort in his elbow"Comment -
Victor injury a Zam shame
Lost for year in Mets' win
BY ADAM RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Victor Zambrano tells Willie Randolph he's fine, but two pitches later sprints off mound with season-ending injury.
Kaz Matsui's two-run double gives Mets lead and chance to sweep Braves today, taking at least a little bit of sting out of losing Victor Zambrano.
Victor Zambrano looked into Willie Randolph's eyes and insisted three times that he felt fine, despite the pained expression bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr. spotted from the dugout.
Two pitches later, on a two-strike changeup to Andruw Jones after Zambrano convinced his manager nothing was wrong, the righthander's season ended.
Zambrano has a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow and will require surgery that will sideline him until 2007, agent Peter Greenberg told the Daily News last night after meeting his client at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
"He's out for the year," said Greenberg, who described the recovery time for this injury as less than the 12 months prescribed for Tommy John surgery. "He's down, obviously. He's been pitching with some pain for a while. Now he knows what it is. The doctor told him the ligament is in good shape, which is good news."
Oft-jeered Kaz Matsui keyed a four-run seventh-inning rally and the Mets survived Jorge Julio's attempt at his first NL save to beat tormentor Tim Hudson and the Braves, 6-5, yesterday at Shea. Yet improving to a major league-best 21-9 with their fourth straight win, and knocking the Braves nine games out of first place for the first time in 13 years, could not rival losing Zambrano.
"His elbow just blew up," said Pedro Martinez, Zambrano's confidant and one of several players aware that he had been concealing discomfort for a while, though GM Omar Minaya, Randolph and coaches maintained they had no hint.
Zambrano put pressure on himself to pitch because a 14-inning game the previous night taxed the bullpen and, Martinez suggested, because of unfair expectations stemming from the Scott Kazmir trade. He ultimately made a beeline for the dugout after striking out Jones with his 23rd pitch.
"When he got to the dugout, I could see him holding his arm," Floyd said. "I just wish he would've said something."
Zambrano had been backed off starts by the Devil Rays in the weeks preceding the controversial July 30, 2004, trade. He then made only three starts for the Mets that season because of what was labeled a strained flexor muscle in the elbow. Jim Duquette, the Mets' GM at the time, later accused Tampa Bay brass of deception regarding Zambrano's elbow, saying: "There has to be an openness and a candidness between doctors, and they weren't straightforward with us." Perversely, it was a fear of a potential elbow injury to Kazmir, which has yet to materialize, that in part fueled the deal from the Mets' perspective. Greenberg said Zambrano was aware of bone chips in the elbow and that doctors who reviewed the MRI last night suggested the tendon would have needed the surgery regardless.
With the Mets having played extra innings Friday, and with Jose Lima already on tap today because of injuries to Brian Bannister (hamstring strain) and substitute John Maine (finger inflammation), Zambrano's early departure couldn't have been more inopportune, though Darren Oliver was prepared because he also knew about Zambrano's discomfort.
The Mets are set for the midweek Phillies series with Martinez, Tom Glavine and Steve Trachsel, but Friday and Saturday starts are now open. Presumably Lima would take one. Oliver is an option for the other. The organization's depth had been lacking even before the injuries because of the Kris Benson and Jae Seo trades. The other internal choices include Jeremi Gonzalez (3.03 ERA) from Triple-A Norfolk and granting Aaron Heilman's preseason wish to be in the rotation. Or, the Mets could succumb to temptation and promote 2005 first-round pick Mike Pelfrey from Double-A Binghamton. Minaya said he'd leave all options open. With Zambrano confirmed out for the season, it's certain the Mets will scour the trade market.
Oliver, cut from the Opening Day roster until a last-minute reversal partly because Zambrano strained a hamstring, contributed four solid relief innings yesterday. Jeff Francoeur, the second batter Oliver faced, pulled the Braves even at 1 with a homer. The Mets regained a one-run lead an inning later on Carlos Beltran's solo homer. Oliver didn't surrender another hit until the sixth. Chipper Jones made it 2-2 that inning with a run-scoring bloop single that chased him.
The Mets fell behind 3-2 when Bartolome Fortunato surrendered a seventh-inning homer to Adam LaRoche. But the Mets got to Hudson in the bottom half, with Jose Reyes delivering an RBI single and Matsui contributing a tiebreaking two-run double. Floyd drew a bases-loaded walk after the Mets got into the bullpen.
Julio, given the nod with a 6-4 lead to start the ninth because Randolph didn't want to use Wagner after a two-inning assignment the previous night, allowed a run but escaped with the tying run at third on a broken-bat groundout by Edgar Renteria.
Originally published on May 7, 2006Comment -
I called that trade of Kazmir for Zambrano one of the worst and it's looking like it's coming true.Comment
