Mets Keep Winning and Surprising

With Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry helping the New York Yankees win last year’s World Series, New York Met fans thought all they had left was to reminisce about past glory days.

But the Mets have a long history of having surprising success with no-name talent and this team may yet distinguish itself.

On Sunday, the Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with an 8-5 victory before 42,058 fans at Shea Stadium.

New York won its fourth consecutive game and its 15th in the last 20. The Mets are within striking distance of first-place Atlanta in the National League East.

The Mets are eight games over .500 for the first time since August 3, 1991, when they were 55-47.

The Mets, however, lost flashy shortstop Rey Ordonez to a broken left hand. Ordonez, who tied his career high with three runs batted in, will be sidelined from four to six weeks after injuring his hand diving for Ruben Amaro’s single up the middle in the eighth inning.

Rick Reed pitched six strong innings as New York extended its winning streak to four.

Reed (4-2) gave up two runs and eight hits to the Phillies, who have lost nine of 11. Rookie Cory Lidle pitched two innings for his first major-league save.

New York starters have pitched at least six innings in 21 of the last 22 games.

Colorado 9, Florida 2--Rookie pitcher John Thomson collected his first four hits in the majors, drove in three runs and earned his first victory with a seven-hitter to lead the Rockies at Florida.

Colorado’s Andres Galarraga, who hit a 529-foot grand slam Saturday, settled for a 360-foot triple, a double and a single. He needed a home run to reach the first cycle in Rockie history, but popped out in the eighth.

Quinton McCracken and Vinny Castilla also hit home runs for the Rockies, who had 17 hits.

Thomson (1-4), recalled from triple-A Colorado Springs last month, had lost each of his previous four starts. He gave up three hits and two runs in the first, then settled down. Thomson, a right-handed pitcher, struck out six and walked two for the Rockies’ fifth complete game.

Thomson had a two-run single in the second, a single in the fourth, an RBI single in the fifth and a single in the seventh, raising his average to .400. He had been hitless in his first six at-bats before the game.

Rick Helling (1-4) gave up eight hits and five runs in four innings.

Atlanta 4, San Francisco 3--Ryan Klesko homered in his third consecutive game and Jeff Blauser hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth at Atlanta.

Starting pitcher Terrell Wade, gave up three runs in the first, but rebounded to pitch six strong innings while the Braves got back in the game.

With the score tied, 3-3, in the eighth, Blauser came up with one out and hit a 3-and-2 pitch from Jim Poole (2-1) into the left-field seats for his seventh home run.

Mike Bielecki (2-3) pitched two scoreless innings for the win and Mark Wohlers pitched the ninth to earn his 12th save.

The Braves, who had squandered leads to the Giants in the first three games, rallied in the fourth against Kirk Rueter.

Chipper Jones doubled with one out, Andruw Jones grounded out and Blauser walked before Klesko golfed a three-run home run into the right-field seats. It was Klesko’s 10th home run. Seven of his last nine hits have been for extra bases.

Pittsburgh 11, Montreal 2--Jose Guillen’s home run finished off Pittsburgh’s five-run first and Francisco Cordova shook off a shaky start at Pittsburgh.

The Pirates outscored Montreal, 23-4, while winning two of the three-game series.

Kevin Young, who had a run-scoring double in the first, has nine RBIs in his last four starts against the Expos.

“Everybody thought we were in a lot of trouble when a lot of our guys went down with injuries--myself included,” said outfielder Al Martin, one of three injured Pittsburgh regulars. “But guys have gotten a chance to play and have kept it going.”

Jason Kendall, batting third with Martin out, scored three runs as the Pirates continued to hang around the .500 mark despite having the lowest-paid and least-recognizable team in the majors.

Chicago 7, Cincinnati 1--Jeremi Gonzalez won his second consecutive start since getting promoted to the majors and Ryne Sandberg drove in three runs at Chicago.

Shawon Dunston hit two RBI singles and the Cubs won for the fifth time in seven games.

Gonzalez (2-0) gave up three hits in five scoreless innings, striking out seven. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first by striking out Eduardo Perez and getting Joe Oliver on a ground out.

John Smiley (5-7) gave up seven hits in four innings and left with the Reds trailing, 4-0. The Reds have lost six of their last eight road games.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: John Thomson

Team: Colorado

Performance: The rookie pitcher went 4 for 4, 3 RBIs

Team’s Result: Won

*

Player: Mike Piazza

Team: Dodgers

Performance: 3 for 4, home run, 1 RBI, 2 runs

Team’s Result: Won

*

Player: Ryan Klesko

Team: Atlanta

Performance: Homered in third consecutive game

Team’s Result: Won

PITCHING

Player: John Thomson

Team: Colorado

Performance: Threw a 7-hitter with 6 strikeouts, 2 walks

Team’s Result: Won

*

Player: Jeremi Gonzalez

Team: Chicago

Performance: 5 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 7 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Won

*

Player: Joey Hamilton

Team: San Diego

Performance: 7 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 5 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Won