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Saturday, Apr. 8 1:10pm ET
Brown, Sheffield injured in win over Mets | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- The glum looks on the Dodgers' faces told it all. While this was a win in the standings, Los Angeles left Shea Stadium feeling like losers. "At the expense of today's win, you'd rather take the `L' and get out of here healthy," Eric Karros said after Los Angeles rallied from a four-run, ninth-inning deficit for a dramatic 6-5, 10-inning win over the New York Mets. That's because the Dodgers lost Kevin Brown. And Gary Sheffield. And not to be overlooked, Mike Fetters and Gregg Olson were injured, too. It's a good thing baseball teams don't belong to HMOs. "The other guys have to step it up," Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said, thinking about the players he has left, rather than the one's he's lost. With Los Angeles trailing 5-1 in the ninth, Karros hit a leadoff homer off John Franco and Devon White hit an opposite-field, three-run homer with two outs. Then, in the 10th, Karros homered with two outs off Armando Benitez (0-1). "It was," Johnson said, "a great game to win." Except, of course, for the way it was won. Brown broke the pinkie on his right (pitching) hand trying to bunt in the fifth inning. Johnson says the $105 million man, baseball's highest-paid player, is going on the disabled list and will be out for at least 3-4 weeks. Brown, who fancies himself as baseball's toughest guy, says not so fast. "If I can pitch with it, I'll do it," he said. "If it heals up wrong, if it's something I can fix in the offseason, I'd like to try." Brown, who will fly to Los Angeles on Sunday and be examined Monday by hand specialist Dr. Norman Zemel, stayed in for an inning after the injury, then was forced out by his manager. "His fingers were all white," Johnson said. "I can't believe he pitched an inning with a fracture." While Brown's right hand was wrapped in a big blue bandage, Sheffield rested on a pair of crutches in another part of the clubhouse. He sprained his right ankle trying to catch Jon Nunnally's first-inning fly ball, then allowed himself to tumble over on the warning track so we wouldn't break any bones. The Dodgers said it was a "high" sprain, which is the worst kind. It can't even be evaluated until Sunday, when the swelling goes down. "They said it's in a bad spot," Sheffield said. That's where the Dodgers might be now. "They are the two franchise players on the team," White said. Fetters (1-0) escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the bottom half of the ninth when Melvin Mora struck out. Earlier, Fetters felt a pull in his left quadriceps, then a burning sensation. "I'm pretty sure I'll be OK," he said. Olson, who gave up a run in the eighth, felt pain in his right forearm, and Johnson said he was concerned. All this may mean a quick return from the minors for Carlos Perez, who was sent down Friday night. Johnson didn't want to make any quick decisions. At first, it looked like Franco would get his first save since last June 24. He warmed up in the bullpen with the Mets ahead 3-1 on Jay Payton's first major league home run and Edgardo Alfonzo's two-run shot off Brown. But Mora who was 3-for-5, had a run-scoring single in the eighth and Rey Ordonez added an RBI groundout. After Franco wasted the lead, the crowd of 37,814 booed as he walked off the mound, through the dugout, up the tunnel and back to the clubhouse. "You don't do your job, you get booed," Franco said. "I've been booed for 11 years for one thing or another. But nobody likes it. I don't like it. It's part of the game." Franco was the Mets closer until he got hurt last June. Mets manager Bobby Valentine didn't want to use Benitez three days in a row, and decided before the game that Franco would finish. "I'm not going to sit here and make excuses," Franco said. "The ball to Karros was up, and the ball to White was away and he went out and got it." Until Franco's failure, it appeared Pat Mahomes would win in his first start since June 8, 1996, when pitched for the Minnesota Twins. Mahomes, pitching because of Al Leiter's sore groin, took a shutout into the sixth before allowing a home run to Mark Grudzielanek. The 29-year-old right-hander, making his 52nd career start, allowed one run and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. Then he watched on TV in the clubhouse as Franco let it slip away. "I have all the confidence in the world in those guys," Mahomes said, "and I still have all the confidence in the world. Johnny is a good pitcher. He's a good guy in then bullpen. He helps everybody and he has a record as a good pitcher." Game notesJeff Shaw pitched a perfect 10th for his first save. ... Karros, 2-for-23 before his fifth-inning double, had his 15th multihomer game. ... Mets C Mike Piazza was rested. ... Alfonzo had been 4-for-18 (.222) against Brown with no extra-base hits. ... Brown gave up three runs and six hits in five innings. After allowing a career-high 19 homers last season, he has given up three in his first two starts this year. ... Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, dropping to 3-for-23 (.130). He was booed after an inning-ending groundout with a runner at third base in the sixth, then was taken out. ... The Mets intend to option RHP Eric Cammack to Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday and recall LHP Glendon Rusch, Sunday's scheduled starter. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Los Angeles Clubhouse NY Mets Clubhouse Dodgers' Brown breaks pinkie on pitching hand
RECAPS Baltimore 2 Detroit 1
Los Angeles 6
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