PHILADELPHIA -- Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran
were not about to let the New York Mets get swept in a four-game
series.
Delgado hit a pair of homers and drove in four runs and Beltran
recorded his third four-hit game of the season and also homered
as the Mets posted a 7-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The first-place Mets have run away in the National League East
race this season, entering this series with a 15-game lead over
the second-place Phillies. But Philadelphia, which is battling
for a wild-card spot, dominated the first three games of this
series, outscoring the Mets, 27-4.
"No one wants to get swept any place," Mets manager Willie
Randolph said. "It was nice to get that win."
On Thursday, it was Delgado and Beltran who flexed their
muscles. Delgado hit a solo homer over the center field wall in
the third inning and Beltran and Delgado hit back-to-back
homers in the fifth inning off rookie Scott Mathieson (1-4).
Delgado also had an RBIs triple and a sacrifice fly.
"It was important to get out of here with a win," Delgado said.
"We didn't play particularly well. We didn't swing the bats
good. To take the last game of the series I think is important
for our confidence."
Hitless in his previous nine at-bats, Beltran went 4-for-5.
"Carlos Beltran had a big day today and Delgado did also with a
couple of big home runs," Randolph said.
Ryan Howard tied Boston's David Ortiz for the major league lead
with his 42nd home run of the season - a two-run shot over the
left field wall in the fourth inning for Philadelphia. Of
Howard's 42 homers, 23 have gone to the opposite field.
Howard nearly hit one to center in the sixth inning with two
runners on base, but his drive was caught on the warning track
by Beltran.
John Maine (3-3) pitched six innings and allowed two runs and
eight hits to earn his third straight win. Two of them have
come against the Phillies. He pitched six scoreless innings in
an 8-1 victory over Philadelphia on August 6.
"I just wanted to establish my fastball for a strike," said
Maine, who did not walk a batter. "Later in the game, I started
throwing some more offspeed (pitches) up there."
Acquired from Baltimore in the trade that sent Kris Benson to
Baltimore, Maine tossed 26 consecutive scoreless innings for the
Mets before it was snapped last Saturday at Washington.
The Phillies (59-61) lost a chance to reach .500 for the first
time since they were 35-35 on June 19, but remained 2 1/2 games
behind Cincinnati (62-59) in the wild-card race.
Mathieson lost for the second time in less than two weeks
against the Mets, yielding six runs and eight hits in four
innings. On August 6 in New York, he lasted just 3 2/3 innings
and allowed seven runs, although only two were earned.
"It's tough. I have to keep working," Mathieson said. "I just
left a couple of changeups up. I was tipping a few pitches that
hurt me."
The Mets jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first three innings.
Jose Reyes led off the game with an infield single but was
erased on a fielder's choice by Endy Chavez. Chavez raced to
third on a single by Beltran and Delgado followed with a
sacrifice fly.
Mike DiFelice and Reyes had RBIs singles in the second inning to
increase the lead to 3-0.
Delgado homered in the fourth, clearing the center field wall
one pitch after pulling a pitch that hooked foul into the second
deck in right field.
Chase Utley led off the bottom of the fourth with a double and
Howard followed with his home run.
Beltran pulled a 1-2 pitch into the right field seats in the
fifth inning for his 34th home run of the season.
"That particular inning, I was trying to put myself on base and
I got a hanging changeup and I was able to hit it out of the
ballpark," Beltran said.
Delgado followed with his second home run of the game and 28th
of the season. It was Delgado's 39th career multi-homer game.
Ironically, the last time the Mets received back-to-back homers
it was Beltran and Delgado who delivered here on June 13.
Delgado added an RBIs triple in the seventh after Beltran
singled.
The Phillies loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh
inning, but reliever Pedro Feliciano caught Utley looking at a
third strike to end the threat.