Dramatic Win Suits Mets Fine

The New York Mets returned home and got a dramatic victory that made the National League wild-card race even tighter.

Ramon Castro capped a comeback with a three-run homer in the eighth inning Tuesday night, and the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4 at Shea Stadium.

The Phillies (70-62) fell into a tie with the Florida Marlins. The Mets and Houston Astros are half a game behind.

The Mets had trailed from the start after Kenny Lofton hit his first home run since opening day and Pat Burrell had a two-run shot in the first inning against Met starter Jae Seo.

Juan Padilla (1-0) got the victory, and Braden Looper worked the ninth for his 28th save.

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Washington 3, Atlanta 2 -- Rookie Jason Bergmann earned his first major league win, leading a National bullpen that pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings at Atlanta. Chad Cordero worked the ninth for his 42nd save.

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Florida 7, St. Louis 6 -- Carlos Delgado hit a two-run triple in the eighth at Miami, and the Marlins recovered after blowing an early lead. Todd Jones gave up pinch-hitter John Mabry’s home run in the ninth before earning his 32nd save.

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San Diego 5, Arizona 3 -- Joe Randa hit a go-ahead home run leading off the sixth inning, and Brian Giles had a three-run shot in the first for the Padres, who beat the Diamondbacks at San Diego to take a 5 1/2 -game lead in the NL West.

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San Francisco 4, Colorado 3 -- Ray Durham hit a tying run-scoring double in the eighth inning, then scored the go-ahead run on Edgardo Alfonzo’s infield single, leading the Giants at San Francisco.

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Houston 5, Cincinnati 2 -- Morgan Ensberg hit a three-run homer in a five-run fifth inning that rallied the Astros at Houston. The Reds loaded the bases in the ninth against Brad Lidge, but he struck out Edwin Encarnacion to end the game.

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Pittsburgh 6, Milwaukee 0 -- Paul Maholm pitched eight shutout innings in his major league debut, and the Pirates had a five-run first inning at Milwaukee to end a five-game losing streak.