Wright Bombs Lead Martinez To Seventh Win

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The New York Sun

The chants are becoming routine at Shea Stadium whenever David Wright makes a nice play in the field or gets a key hit. “MVP, MVP, MVP.”

And Pedro Martinez agrees with the crowd.

“So far, yeah,” Martinez said yesterday after Wright hit a pair of two-run homers in the Mets’ 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. “The kid’s done it all.”

Martinez (7-3) won for just the second time since April 28, thanks to Wright’s bat. The Mets’ third baseman connected in the fourth and fifth innings for his third two-homer game of the season, raising his batting average to .338. He has 10 RBI in the last five games and 60 for the season in 71 games.

Wright’s first homer went to left-center, the second one to right. It was an example of his power to all fields.

“I definitely try to work on going the other way,” he said. “That’s part of my game that I think is one of my strengths. It’s good to see the ball going that way.”

Both homers came against Eric Milton (4-4), the first one after a walk to Carlos Beltran, the second after an RBI single by Beltran. Wright’s fourth-inning homer was his 17th of the season and tied the score at 2.

Julio Franco then doubled and scored on a single by Xavier Nady. By the time Wright came up again, Milton was on the ropes, trailing 4-2.

“He was a little erratic,” Wright said. “With the count 2-0, he wants to throw a strike. He threw a fastball and I got it. I kept my hands back, put a good swing on it and hit it on the good part of the bat.”

The win gave the Mets a split of the four-game series and they widened their lead in the NL East to 10 games over Philadelphia.

Martinez overcame some unusual wildness to throw six innings for the win. He allowed just two hits but walked five batters – he’s averaging only two free passes per game this year. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out eight, including his final four batters.

“I made pitches when I had to,” Martinez said. “I felt some pitches had the corners. I can’t blame [plate umpire Ron Kulpa]. I stayed focused and made adjustments. I had my struggles. The only one to blame was me.”

Heath Bell worked a scoreless seventh. Chad Bradford came in with two runners on in the eighth and struck out three of four batters for his second save.

The Reds tried to come back in the fifth when Felipe Lopez and Scott Hatteberg walked with two outs. But Martinez struck out Kearns, stranding the runners.


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