NEW YORK (AP) — For at least one at-bat, Jason Bay was able to halt the jeers at Citi Field. A few fans stood when he singled — it was hard to tell whether they were rooting for the man, or merely mocking him.
His opportunities to hit more might diminish in a hurry.
Bay wound up scoring a run Tuesday night for the New York Mets in a 4-2 loss to Miami that stretched their home losing streak to a month.
Bay was in a 2-for-41 rut when he got his rare hit. Beset by injuries since signing a $66 million, four-year deal with the Mets before the 2010 season, the three-time All-Star is hitting just .157 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in 134 at-bats.
Mets manager Terry Collins indicated before the game that Bay’s stay as the full-time left fielder was coming to an end. Collins said he would talk to Bay about “how to proceed forth.”
“I’m trying to be a realist with all that’s happened,” Bay said. “I’m not always the best option.”
“This didn’t blindside me. I’ve had some time to digest this,” he added. “I don’t want to be a distraction.”
With other outfielders in the mix, Bay said he realized his position.
“If I had a leg to stand on” it would different, he said. “I can’t say anything.”
Jose Reyes extended his hitting streak to a career-high 25 games with an infield single that set up Miami.
Booed again at Citi Field, Reyes beat out a trickler that helped the Marlins score four times in the fourth. The former Mets All-Star shortstop has the longest hitting string in the majors this year.
“It is what it is,” he said of the crowd reaction. “I’m good. They can do whatever they want here.”
Giancarlo Stanton hit a sacrifice fly after being activated from the disabled list for the Marlins.
On the day the Mets unveiled the logo for the 2013 All-Star game at Citi Field and attached the insignia to the center-field scoreboard, they lost their eighth in a row at home. Their previous win in the park came July 7 against the Cubs.
Carlos Zambrano (7-9), recently moved to the bullpen, got four outs for the win. Steve Cishek, the sixth Miami pitcher, closed for his seventh save.
Marlins starter Wade LeBlanc, pitching on his 28th birthday, left after allowing a leadoff homer to Daniel Murphy in the fifth that made it 4-1. LeBlanc made his second start of the season in the majors, and manager Ozzie Guillen said before the game that the left-hander would throw about 85 pitches. Murphy’s homer came on LeBlanc’s 85th pitch.
Reyes already has done more damage than he did in his return to Citi Field in late April, when he went 1 for 12 as the Mets swept Miami. Before this series opener, he said he had no regrets about signing a $106 million, six-year deal during the offseason with the disappointing Marlins.
Reyes hustled ahead of a hurried, wide throw by Jonathon Niese (8-6), and later scored. Reyes became the first reigning NL batting champion to have a 25-game hitting streak since Rogers Hornsby in 1922, the Marlins said in citing the Elias Sports Bureau.
Justin Ruggiano began the Miami fourth with an infield hit, Reyes singled and Carlos Lee had an RBI single. Stanton drove in a run and John Buck hit a two-out, two-run double for a 4-0 lead.
Murphy’s homer brought Chad Gaudin in from the bullpen. The Mets added a run in the fifth when Bay, pinch-hitter Ike Davis and Andres Torres singled.
NOTES: Lee and Mets SS Ruben Tejada each have 12-game hitting strings. … Niese is 1-5 against the Marlins. … Niese has pitched at least six innings in 12 straight starts.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
