A's Fall to Mets

Jun 24, 12:30 AM

Current Headlines: NEW YORK _ He had made what seemed like a game-saving play for the Oakland A's already in the sixth inning.

But on a night that featured no shortage of emotion and drama, wouldn't you know the ball found Travis Buck once again in the bottom of the ninth at Shea Stadium on Saturday. No positive outcome this time around. And once again, no happy ending for the A's in the Big Apple.

Buck made a futile diving attempt at David Wright's soft liner to right with runners on first and second and no outs, only to have the ball skid past him. That allowed Ramon Castro to easily score the game's only run as the Mets walked off with a 1-0 victory over the A's to take the first two games of this interleague series.

"I knew the situation, I should have just let it drop," Buck said. "Me being so aggressive, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I charged it good. It went right over my glove."

Call it over-exuberance if you want from a rookie who's shown a knack for making the highlight-reel catch. It's debatable whether Buck would have thrown out Castro had he tried to score from second even if Buck stayed on his feet and just blocked the ball.

What's certainly clear is that the A's could have made Joe Blanton a well-deserving winner had they mustered just a trace of offense against Orlando Hernandez and three New York relievers. But the A's had just seven hits and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Their only run over the past two games came on Shannon Stewart's homer in the second inning Friday. The A's have been shut out an American League-leading six times and fell a season-high eight games behind the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West.

"We have seen some pretty good pitching," manager Bob Geren said. "We tried some things tonight. We stole a base, we hit and run and got a guy over. We're making some efforts to break that (scoreless) streak."

Buck, who started in left field before moving to right in the eighth, had made the game's biggest play up to that point in the bottom of the sixth. He charged in on Carlos Beltran's single and threw out Ricky Ledee trying to score from second, as Jason Kendall made the sweeping tag on a very close play.

"That's all I've got," Buck said of his arm strength. "My arm, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It was just enough. Jason did a good job blocking the plate."

By then the crowd of 52,920 was already abuzz thanks to the theatrics of Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca during his at-bat earlier in the inning. Lo Duca gave home plate umpire Marvin Hudson an earful after taking exception to two called strikes and then went ballistic when Hudson ejected him. He repeatedly pushed away manager Willie Randolph to get in Hudson's face. As he finally walked back toward the dugout, Lo Duca threw his bat and helmet toward the first-base line but got much better distance in chucking his batting gloves. He finished by hurling his shin guards from the dugout onto the field and surely has a punishment or fine coming from Major League Baseball.

"It was my fault for snapping (but) I swear on my mother I didn't cuss at him," Lo Duca said. "I've said a lot worse and never gotten thrown out. ... It's part of the game good Italian temper."

Blanton pitched another gem only to come up empty. He allowed just five hits in eight shutout innings. He's taken an `L' in 1-0 and 2-0 games this season to go with Saturday's 1-0 no-decision. In five June starts, he's surrendered just five earned runs in 39 1/3 innings.The Mets' game-winning rally came against Santiago Casilla (2-1), who gave up his first run in 11 appearances since being called up from the minors.

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