Football
17y

Alou belts 2 homers as Mets blast Phillies

A CLOSER LOOK
• Summary: Freddy Garcia made his anticipated debut for the Phillies but ended up getting pounded by the Mets in a 4 2/3-innings outing.

width=65> height=90 align=right alt="Moises Alou">
Alou

• Turning point: Tom Glavine walked Ryan Howard with two outs and the bases loaded in the third, but he got Pat Burrell to ground out to escape any further trouble.

• Hero: Alou knocked in three runs behind two home runs.

• Figure this: Glavine got his 293rd career win.

• Quotable: "We're going to win." Phils manager Charlie Manuel yelled from his office after the loss

• Elias Says: Moises Alou hit two home runs for the Mets in Philadelphia. In doing so, Alou (40 years, 288 days old today) became the oldest Mets player to have a multiple-home run game, breaking the record of Rickey Henderson, who was 40 years, 172 days old when he homered twice for the Mets on June 15, 1999.

-- ESPN.com news services

Mets 8, Phillies 1

PHILADELPHIA (ESPN.com news services) -- Freddy Garcia's long-anticipated debut with the Phillies was a bust. And that latest frustration caused Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel to lose his cool.

Moises Alou homered twice and drove in three runs, Tom Glavine got his 293rd win and the New York Mets beat Philadelphia 8-1 Tuesday night.

Garcia (0-1) allowed three runs and eight hits, striking out six in 4 2/3 innings. The two-time All-Star acquired from the Chicago White Sox in the offseason missed two starts with biceps tendinitis. He was scheduled to pitch Sunday, but consecutive rainouts pushed him back two days.

Expected to contend for the NL East title, the Phillies are off to a 3-9 start, including 1-5 at home.

Manager Charlie Manuel's frustration was evident after the game. The normally mild-mannered manager challenged a radio talk-show host to a fight. Manuel had to be restrained by hitting coach Milt Thompson at one point.

"We're going to win," Manuel could be heard yelling in his office.

David Wright extended his career-best hitting streak to 24 games, tying the Mets' franchise record. Hubie Brooks in 1984 and Mike Piazza in 1999 also had 24-game hitting streaks for New York.

Alou hit a two-run shot off Garcia in the second inning, his first homer since signing an $8.5 million, one-year contract with New York. He connected off reliever Geoff Geary in the sixth.

"I feel very comfortable at the plate," Alou said. "I wanted to look better than I looked in spring training."

Glavine (3-1) allowed one run and six hits, pitching out of trouble often because he walked five and hit one batter.

Wright singled to start the second inning. Alou hit the next pitch into the left-field seats to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

The Phillies took advantage of Glavine's control problems in the third to get within 2-1. Glavine walked Garcia on four pitches with one out, hit Chase Utley to load the bases with two outs and walked Ryan Howard to force in a run. But Pat Burrell grounded out to second base to end the inning.

Carlos Beltran's two-out double in the fifth drove in Glavine to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Glavine singled with one out. Garcia left after intentionally walking Carlos Delgado to load the bases with two outs. Geary entered and struck out Wright to strand the runners.

"After a couple innings, I let it go," Garcia said. "I felt fine."

Alou lined his second homer into the left-field seats to make it 4-1 leading off the sixth. Beltran had an RBI groundout against Francisco Rosario in the seventh, and the Mets put it out of reach with three runs in the eighth.

The Phillies had their first two runners on in the fifth, but Glavine struck Utley out looking and Howard swinging. Burrell then fouled out to first base. They had the first two runners on again in the sixth, but Carlos Ruiz grounded into a double play and Alou robbed pinch-hitter Jayson Werth with a diving catch on a sinking liner to left field.

"When it's that cold, that windy, you are basically in survival mode," Glavine said. "You don't get a consistent feel."

Game notes
Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca left after injuring his right index finger when he was hit by Utley's foul ball in the third inning. X-rays were negative. "He's fine, probably just a little bruise," manager Willie Randolph said. ... The teams observed a moment of silence before the game for the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre. ... Alou has 29 career multihomer games. ... Jose Reyes singled leading off the game and stole second, but was picked off second base. ... Utley (1-for-13) and Howard (4-for-19) are hitting .156 with runners in scoring position. "They are going to hit," Manuel said. "They're good hitters, they're special hitters."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

^ Back to Top ^