As expected, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez will not be on the mound in Washington tonight for the Mets.
The veteran right-hander was scratched from the start yesterday after he was still feeling pain in his right foot. The Mets hope Hernandez can return before the playoffs, but with the 37-year-old’s injury history there has to be concern about that being possible.
“We’ll just look at Duque as we move forward,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said. “He’s still a little sore, so we’re going to not push it. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to slot in some time soon.”
Brian Lawrence will start against the Nationals after being recalled from Triple-A yesterday.
Hernandez has felt the pain since a start Aug. 30 in Philadelphia. He had a cortisone shot and did not pitch again until last Tuesday, when the Braves bombed him for eight runs in three innings. Hernandez described the pain Saturday as being on the arch of his foot.
The foot does not bother Hernandez when he runs or plays catch, but he has trouble pitching.
“Obviously, it must have something to do with pushing off or he has an unorthodox delivery, maybe it has something to do with that,” Randolph said.
“He says he feels it when he pitches so we’re going to see if we can let it calm down a little bit.”
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David Wright joined the 30-30 club with his home run in the seventh inning. Wright now has 30 home runs and 31 steals. He is the third Met to accomplish the feat. Howard Johnson, the team’s current hitting coach, did it in 1987, ’89 and ’91. Darryl Strawberry also did it in ’87. Wright is the fifth player under 25 to achieve the milestone, joining Alex Rodriguez (1998), Bobby Bonds (1969), Jose Canseco (1988) and Sammy Sosa (1993).
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Carlos Delgado took batting practice yesterday as he tries to recover from a strained right hip flexor that put him on the shelf Sept. 4. Delgado said the hip is feeling much better . . . RHP Joe Smith rejoined the team yesterday. The early-season star faced three batters in the seventh, hitting Aaron Rowand before getting out of a bases loaded jam. . . . Moises Alou extended his hit streak to 20 games with a fourth-inning single.