th one out in the top of the eighth, Ramon Castro singled to left, but was removed for pinch runner
Ramon Martinez, a September call-up, who then committed the cardinal sin of pinch running: a baserunning error. When your one job on a given night is to run the bases properly, you had better not mess up. Credit Jerry Manuel with a great call, because Robinson Cancel executed a picture perfect hit-and-run, stroking a ground single through the hole on the right side of the infield. Martinez, who had been running on the play, inexplicably hesitated and then stopped at second. Had he made it to third with one out, the Mets would have had a chance to score the tying run with Jose Reyes up next. Reyes bounced back to the pitcher, who threw high to second, and Cancel would have been safe had he slid, but instead he tip-toed into the bag and was forced out. Those two baserunning errors severely limited the Mets' chances to tie the game in that inning.
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