Mets Rally for Doubleheader Split With Giants

Cliff Floyd homered twice and drove in four runs, Kris Benson pitched three hit ball for seven innings, and the Mets routed the San Francisco Giants 12-1 last night for a doubleheader split.In the opener, Brett Tomko just about ended San Francisco’s eight-game losing streak all by himself. He hit a three-run double and pitched into the eighth, leading the Giants to a 6-3 victory.Lance Niekro homered, doubled, and singled, Deivi Cruz added three hits, and Marquis Grissom drove in the go-ahead run, ending San Francisco’s longest slide since May 2000.But ace Jason Schmidt followed with a dud in the nightcap, lasting only four innings. He threw 98 pitches, gave up six runs, and walked four – including Benson with the bases loaded.In fact, it was a big day at the plate for pitchers. The starters combined for five RBI and four hits, including a pair of doubles.Setting the tone for his teammates, Carlos Beltran redeemed himself right away in the second game. After failing to track down Grissom’s tiebreaking double in the opener, Beltran made a leaping grab to rob Michael Tucker of a leadoff homer in the nightcap.David Wright homered and scored three times for the Mets, and Victor Diaz also connected. Jose Reyes finished with three hits and scored three times.Benson (4-2) yielded only Pedro Feliz’s RBI single and earned his fourth win in five starts.Schmidt, Benson’s teammate with the Pirates from 1999-2001,wasn’t nearly as good. The right-hander has pitched only 13 1 /3 innings in three starts since returning from a strained shoulder, allowing 13 earned runs. Schmidt (3-2) walked Floyd leading off the second and Wright again showed impressive opposite-field power, driving a 1-1 pitch over the rightcenter fence.Benson opened the third with a double and advanced when Reyes capped an 11-pitch at-bat with an infield single. Reyes stole second, and consecutive sacrifice flies by Kaz Matsui and Beltran made it 4-0.Wright singled, stole second, and scored on Benson’s bases-loaded walk in the fourth. Reyes added an RBI groundout.Floyd homered off Jim Brower in the fifth. Wright followed with a single and scored on Diaz’s fifth home run. Floyd added a two-run shot in the eighth, his 14th, setting off the fourth fireworks display of the night behind the centerfield fence.Tomko (5-7) gave the Giants a much-needed lift in the day game after their starters went 0-4 with a 6.99 ERA during the losing streak. With the score tied at 1 and two on in the sixth, Grissom hit a drive to deep center that Beltran probably should have caught. But as he retreated, the ball sliced back over his head and bounced over the fence for a ground rule double.Beltran returned from a strained right quadriceps on Tuesday.“You can see he’s playing at less than 100%,” Randolph said. “He’s moving gingerly out there but he’s giving us the best that he has.”Yorvit Torrealba was intentionally walked to get to Tomko, who lined a 1-1 pitch from Kazuhisa Ishii (1-4) to left center for his first extra-base hit of the season and a 5-1 lead.Tomko allowed one run and six hits in 7 2 /3 innings, striking out five and walking two. He was lifted with the bases loaded, and Scott Eyre struck out pinch-hitter Matsui on a high pitch to end the eighth. Tyler Walker got three outs for his eighth save, retiring Mike Piazza with two on to end it.San Francisco fielded an all righthanded hitting lineup against Ishii – lefties are 1-for-28 against him this season. It certainly worked. The erratic lefty gave up six runs – five earned – and a season-high 10 hits in 6 1 /3 innings.

Mets Rally for Doubleheader Split With Giants

Mets Rally for Doubleheader Split With Giants

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