Reyes Runs Wild as Mets Bats Finally Support Ishii

PHILADELPHIA – Kazuhisa Ishii didn’t need much run support.Ishii pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Jose Reyes had three hits and stole three bases, leading the Mets past the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 yesterday.Doug Mientkiewicz homered and drove in two runs for the last-place Mets, who are 6-3 against Philadelphia this season.Ishii (2-6) gave up three runs and six hits, making sure four runs were enough in a hitter-friendly ballpark. The Mets averaged 2.7 runs per game in his first nine starts.“I’m happy I was finally able to contribute,” Ishii said through an interpreter. “I was trying to minimize the damage.This is a small park.You have to be very careful and concentrate here.”Jim Thome and Todd Pratt homered for the Phillies, who have lost six of nine after a 12-1 homestand. The sellout crowd of 45,449 was the largest at Citizens Bank Park, which opened last year.“I liked our matchup today,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “I’m not saying anything bad about (Ishii). I thought we’d get some runs. Give him credit. He held us. He had command of his fastball.”Ishii’s only other win came against Florida on May 28. The left-hander allowed 13 earned runs in his last three outings.The Mets used three relievers in the seventh, including Roberto Hernandez, who worked the eighth and got four outs. Braden Looper finished for his 15th save in 17 chances.Cory Lidle (6-6) allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings, losing for the third time in four starts.After Mientkiewicz led off the seventh with his ninth homer to make it 4-1, the Phillies closed to 4-3 in their half of the inning.Pratt hit his fourth homer with one out, and Jimmy Rollins’s two-out single chased Ishii. Heath Bell entered and after Rollins stole second, Jason Michaels hit an RBI single.Royce Ring came in and walked Bobby Abreu, but Hernandez entered and struck out Pat Burrell to end the inning.With the Mets’ defense overshifted to the right side, Hernandez made a rare catch for a pitcher, chasing Thome’s foul pop into the third-base coach’s box in the eighth.“Fear of making another pitch to Thome made me catch that ball,” said Hernandez, who struggled in his only season with the Phillies last year.The Mets took a 1-0 lead on Mike Cameron’s RBI single in the third. Reyes singled with one out, stole second, and scored on Cameron’s liner to right-center. Reyes has 22 steals in 2005, and yesterday was the second time this season he’s stolen three bases in one game.Cliff Floyd and Mike Piazza started the fourth with singles. After Marlon Anderson hit into a fielder’s choice, David Wright’s RBI single made it 2-0. Mientkiewicz then reached when Lidle made a wild throw to second base on his bouncer to the mound, allowing Anderson to score and putting the Mets ahead 3-0.“If I made a good throw, it’s an easy double play,” Lidle said.”The whole inning was tough.”Thome cut it to 3-1 with a solo shot in the fourth, his second homer in two games.It was just the seventh homer for Thome, who has struggled this season.Burrell made an outstanding, sliding catch in left field to end the fourth, robbing Reyes of a hit that would’ve scored two runs.“We need some sweeps, but two out of three isn’t bad,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said.The Phillies are 13-20 against the NL East, 26-14 against the rest of the majors.

Reyes Runs Wild as Mets Bats Finally Support Ishii

Reyes Runs Wild as Mets Bats Finally Support Ishii

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