No Rocker, No Boos, Lots of Fireworks

NEW YORK — A capacity crowd of 52,831 called for John Rocker each time the door to the visitors’ bullpen opened during the eighth inning at Shea Stadium Friday night.

The “We Want Rocker” chant was to no avail, but when the 13-batter inning was finally over, the partisans weren’t disappointed that it was Don Wengert, Kerry Ligtenberg and Terry Mulholland who came through the door instead of the renowned Atlanta Brave left-hander.

The New York Mets, trailing 8-1 when the inning began, tied a club record by scoring 10 runs off the three relievers, with former Dodger Mike Piazza capping an explosion that matched the postgame fireworks show with a three-run homer for an 11-8 victory.

Rocker?

The left-hander was unavailable because of a recurring problem with a callous on his left thumb.

“It’s never hurt worse,” Rocker said after the game. “I tried to throw in the third inning and tried again in the seventh. It bled every time I threw the ball. Felt like I was rubbing it across sandpaper.”

It’s part callous, part a cut by the side of the nail that has been splitting on Rocker since his final appearance of the spring.

He’s tried glue, silver nitrate, ice--a “little of everything,” he said--in an effort to keep the cut from opening.

As bad as Rocker said it was Friday night, he could be doubtful for the final two games of the series.

“That was my situation,” he said of the eighth inning Met rally in which nine of the runs scored with two outs, “but I absolutely couldn’t go. I let the team down. I had to sit and watch. That hurt.”

The Braves have been surviving with a tattered bullpen.

Rocker was unavailable, as was Mike Remlinger, nursing a tender elbow.

Jason Marquis, a 21-year-old rookie, pitched two good innings Thursday night and the cautious Braves didn’t want to put him right back into the pressure cooker. Greg McMichael, Kevin McGlinchy, Rudy Seanez and Odalis Perez are all on the disabled list.

Ligtenberg, coming back this season from elbow reconstruction, had been in two games in a row and the Braves didn’t want to use him again. But they had no options when Wengert couldn’t get the third strike and third out, setting the stage for the second-largest comeback in Met history.

“How many did they score?” Atlanta pitching coach Leo Mazzone said. “Ten? It seemed like 110.”

The Mets got six hits and four walks. A two-run single by Edgar Alfonzo off Mulholland tied it, 8-8, and then Piazza slugged Mulholland’s next pitch for his 22nd homer.

Piazza is batting .364, has 68 runs batted in, and has hit in 18 consecutive games, driving in at least one run in the last 13. “It was a big game for us, a great win for us,” Piazza said. “Hopefully, this is the type win that gets you into the playoffs.”

It’s a long way to the playoffs, but the Braves and Mets like to send each other little messages.

The Braves, who lead the Mets by two games in the National League East, have delivered the most, winning 23 of the last 34 meetings over the last two plus seasons, including the 1999 championship series.

Among Friday night’s messages was a third-inning call from Rocker in the bullpen telling Mazzone he would be unable to pitch--ultimately disappointing Rocker and the bullpen-depleted Braves more than a crowd that found it more fun to cheer than boo.