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GAME LOG
HOUSTON (AP) -- Three days of rest didn't slow down Mike Piazza.
Piazza, showing no sign of his knee injury, went 4-for-4 and
drove in four runs, and Robin Ventura also had four RBIs as the New
York Mets routed the Houston Astros 10-3 Thursday to complete a 5-2
road trip.
|  | | Mike Piazza, right, slides safely across home plate as Astros catcher Raul Chavez makes the catch in the seventh inning Thursday. Piazza got it done with the bat as well, to the tune of a perfect 4-for-4 day. |
"I felt good," Piazza said. "I had to make sure when I came
back I was ready to go full throttle. I stayed relaxed and it
didn't strain when I ran. I was only nervous on the slide to home
(seventh inning) because the catcher can put a good tag on you."
Piazza, who mildly sprained his left knee Saturday, missed three
games because of the injury, then homered and went 2-for-5
Wednesday in the Mets' 12-5 win.
On Thursday, he had RBI singles in the first and fifth innings,
a double in the third and a two-run single in the eighth.
Bobby J. Jones (7-5) won his third straight start, allowing two
runs and 10 hits in eight innings.
"Basically, I just made some good pitches," Jones said. "I
stayed away from any big innings. I gave up a lot of hits but I
made some good pitches when I had to and we got some double play balls."
Ventura went 2-for-5, including a two-run double in the
three-run seventh. Jay Payton homered and had an RBI single.
New York closed within 2½ games of NL East-leading Atlanta, the
closest the Mets have been to first place since July 2.
Jeff Bagwell homered twice, the 20th multihomer game of his
career and second this season. He is the first Houston player to
hit 30 homers in five consecutive seasons.
"Well, I guess that means I've been consistent and that's the
goal of any player but the loss is the main thing right now,"
Bagwell said. "It hurts, it still hurts. You can't get used to the
losses. You're not supposed to."
Tony McKnight, a 23-year-old right-hander, lost in his major
league debut, allowing four runs -- three earned -- six hits and
three walks in six innings. He escaped a bases-loaded, two-outs jam
in the second when Hamilton hit a comebacker.
"I didn't try to think too much. I tried not to put a name on
it and just go out and pitch," said McKnight, sent back to
Triple-A after the game.
"I really thought I did OK for the first time. I tried to pitch
the same way I did in New Orleans. I nitpicked a little, but
basically, I just tried to soak it all in."
McKnight was Houston's 21st pitcher of the season, two short of
the team record set in 1965.
Piazza's RBI single put the Mets ahead in the first, but
Bagwell's homer tied it in the bottom half. Ventura's grounder
scored Piazza in the third, but Bagwell homered again in the
fourth, his 31st of the season and Houston's team-record 169th, one
more than the Astros hit last year.
Piazza's fifth-inning single, which followed Benny Agbayani's
walk and Edgardo Alfonzo's single, put the Mets ahead for good and
Payton's homer made it 4-2 in the sixth.
"I used the whole field, stayed away from the breaking ball and
I didn't try to pull the ball," Piazza said. "I'm not pressing.
When I hit well, I didn't press. I take what the pitcher gives me
and try to stay away form the double play and get the runs home."
New York, which outhit Houston 14-12, broke open the game in the
seventh against Joe Slusarski on Hamilton's leadoff triple, an
intentional walk to Piazza, Ventura's two-run double and Payton's
RBI single.
Ventura added an RBI double in the eighth off Jay Powell. Raul Chavez doubled home a run in the ninth off Pat Mahomes. And after winning three of four in Houston, the Mets headed home to
play San Francisco.
"We are playing pretty good right now," Mets manager Bobby
Valentine said. "When you have a rested bullpen and have players
healthy, you usually play good. And then you get Bobby Jones
pitching a handful of good starts -- he's been about as good a
pitcher as we've had."
Game notes
Bagwell and Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. are the only
active players with current streaks of five straight 30-homer,
100-run seasons. Bagwell's other multihomer game was July 1 against
St. Louis. ... Astros 2B Craig Biggio had surgery on his left knee
on Thursday to repair the anterior cruciate ligament. Biggio also
injured his medial collateral ligament but it is expected to heal
without surgery. ... After the game, the Astros recalled RHP Jose
Cabrera from New Orleans.
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Baseball Scoreboard
NY Mets Clubhouse
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NY Yankees 12
Oakland 6
Tampa Bay 10
Minnesota 4
Detroit 14
Baltimore 3
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Chi. White Sox 3
Toronto 15
Kansas City 7
St. Louis 5
Colorado 4
NY Mets 10
Houston 3
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Philadelphia 3
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