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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Mike Hampton's knee is fine. His confidence is not.
|  | | Robert Person needled his former team with his first victory of the season. |
Hampton lost his third straight start and was knocked out with a
bruised knee and swollen ERA Wednesday night as the Philadelphia
Phillies beat the New York Mets 8-5.
Afterward, the left-hander who went 22-4 last season and was runnerup for the NL Cy Young Award admitted that he trying to hard to prove himself in New York.
"This is about as low as I can get," said Hampton (0-3), who
gave up six runs, six hits and five walks -- one intentional -- in
three innings. "A lot of things are expected out of me, and I'm
letting them down."
Hampton, who matched a career high with his third straight loss,
was struck on the right knee by Doug Glanville's liner in the third
and didn't come out for the fourth. Manager Bobby Valentine said it
was just a bruise, but he didn't want to take any chances with his
newly acquired ace.
Hampton said the knee was fine and had a different opinion on
the matter.
"Different circumstances, I could have stayed in there," he
said. "But I didn't deserve to be out there."
The Mets lost their third straight overall and fifth in six
games. Hampton, who had his shortest outing in two years, blamed
himself for New York's 3-6 start.
"Should this team be 3-6? No," Hampton said. "We basically stink right now, and I'm part of it -- a big part of it."
Hampton has a 6.56 ERA and 17 walks in 13 2/3 innings. He nearly
threw a wild pitch while intentionally walking Alex Arias in the
third, then gave up an RBI double to the next batter -- Phillies
starter Robert Person.
Person (1-0) continued to confound his former team, giving up
two runs and three hits in seven innings with two walks and six
strikeouts. He retired his last 10 batters after Jay Payton's
two-run homer in the fourth.
"It's a little spicier," Person said of facing the team that
traded him for John Olerud in 1996. "It pumps me up. There's no
bad blood, but you definitely want them to know they should be
missing you."
Scott Rolen hit his fourth homer, a scorching shot off the
overhang of the upper deck leading off the third. Mike Lieberthal
was 3-for-4 with a three-run double and his first stolen base since
1998.
The Mets scored three times in the ninth off three relievers.
Wayne Gomes retired Edgardo Alfonzo on a liner to right field with
the bases loaded for his fourth save.
"It would've been devastating to lose that game after a lead
like that," said Phillies manager Terry Francona, who took
right-hander Steve Schrenk out with a runner on second, two outs
and a four-run lead.
The Phillies got three in the first and three in the third against Hampton, who did not live up to the reputation he earned as a stopper with Houston. Hampton was 13-1 in 16 starts following an Astros loss last season.
"I feel there's pressure on me," Hampton said. "I know what I
can do. I know what I need to do. I know what I'm here to do."
Pitching coach Dave Wallace said Hampton's problem wasn't
mechanics or health.
"He's a competitor, he wants to do so well," Wallace said.
"It means you want to do so well, so bad, that you get so carried
away with your emotions you have a hard time controlling
yourself."
A day off that followed the opening game of this series did
nothing to change the Mets' ill fortunes at Veterans Stadium. New
York has lost six straight on the rock-hard carpet in South Philly,
including a daunting three-game sweep last September that nearly
doomed its season.
Game notes
Bobby Abreu, who had three hits, had a solo homer in the
Phillies eighth off Rich Rodriguez. It was Abreu's first career
home run off a lefty. ... Mets RF Derek Bell made a sensational
diving catch on Arias' liner with the bases loaded and two outs in
the sixth. He also had three hits, including an RBI single in the
ninth. ... It was Hampton's shortest outing since going three
innings on June 15, 1998, at Cincinnati. He did not lose his third
game last year until June. ... Mets SS Rey Ordonez (0-for-3) is 1-for-24 this year. The Gold Glover also made his third error. He made only four last year. ... Rickey Henderson, the Mets' disgruntled leadoff hitter, caught a foul popup in the fifth, faked giving it to a fan and then pulled the ball back. ... On a night
the Mets fell, Valentine slipped while trying sit on the top ledge
of the dugout.
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Philadelphia Clubhouse
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NY Yankees 8
Texas 6
Cleveland 5
Oakland 0
Boston 7
Minnesota 3
Seattle 4
Detroit 0
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Houston 7
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