Mets Bail Out Flat El Duque With Big Bats
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CHICAGO – Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran hit grand slams, and David Wright added a two-run shot in an 11-run sixth inning as the Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 13-7 last night.
New York sent 16 batters to the plate in the sixth and benefited from two errors on second baseman Todd Walker that led to eight of the 11 runs being unearned. The half-inning, on a muggy 95-degree night at Wrigley Field, took 41 minutes to play and saw the Cubs make 70 pitches.
The Mets’ outburst marked the first time a team had two grand slams in an inning since April 23, 1999.
New York trailed 5-0 after two innings before showing why it is the highest scoring team in the National League and the one with the best record (55-37).
Floyd’s grand slam was a liner to left field off Sean Marshall (5-8) that just cleared the wall and landed in the basket above the ivy.
The Mets loaded the bases the first time when Beltran reached on Walker’s error, Carlos Delgado hit a sinking liner to center that Juan Pierre couldn’t hold for a single and Wright blooped a base hit to right.
Floyd, who had a solo homer in the fifth,then delivered his sixth career slam to give the Mets a 6-5 lead. New York added another run when Walker made his second error, dropping a throw from third baseman Aramis Ramirez, and pinch-hitter Endy Chavez had an RBI single off reliever Roberto Novoa.
Jose Valentin singled to load the bases, and after a runner was cut down at the plate on a fielder’s choice grounder, Beltran sent the Mets’ second grand slam of the inning into the seats in left center, the fifth basesloaded homer of his career.
After Delgado doubled, Wright hit a two-run homer to make it 13-5 and Cubs fans in the bleachers began to throw debris on the field in disgust as the grounds crew ran onto the field to clean it up.
Reliever Pedro Feliciano (3-2) worked a scoreless fifth to get the win.
Marshall was staked to a 5-0 lead after two innings when the Cubs drove veteran Orlando Hernandez out after 1.2 innings, matching his shortest stint of the season. Hernandez gave up seven hits and five runs.
