Matt den Dekker was hitless this season as he took his place in center field on Saturday for the bottom of the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium. The Mets had put den Dekker in the starting lineup for his defense, but this inning nothing went right.
He dived for a triple that sailed out of reach. He raced for a double that clanged off his outstretched glove. He dived for a single and just missed that, too. Had den Dekker somehow deflected a ball into the stands for a home run, he would have completed a ghoulish kind of defensive cycle, all in one inning.