These are not the 2007 New York Mets.
Continuing their wild ride through September, the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 9-5 on Friday night for their third straight win and moved back into first place in the NL East.
It was just one year ago that the Mets blew a seven-game lead with 17 to play and missed the playoffs. With nine games left in this season, things are considerably different.
“Now, we start with another magic number. It’s our magic number time,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said with a laugh.
Pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy delivered the tiebreaking double in the eighth inning for the Mets, who also got three hits, including a leadoff homer from Jose Reyes. David Wright ended a 1-for-19 drought by going 2-for-5 with two RBIs, and Nick Evans added a solo homer for the Mets, who moved one-half game in front of Philadelphia, which lost 14-8 to Florida.
New York improved to 1-6 this season at Turner Field, where the Phillies went 9-0.
“I guess we were due,” Manuel said.
New York is 7-9 overall against the Braves, who have lost four straight.
; San Francisco 7, Los Angeles 1; Colorado 3, Arizona 2; Houston 5, Pittsburgh 1; and San Diego 11, Washington 6 in 14 innings.
Called up from the minors on Aug. 2, Murphy is hitting .374 with two homers and 16 RBIs. He is 14-for-30 (.467) in September.
“Murphy’s been huge for us all season. We’ve got to find a way to get him to the plate,” Manuel said. “You’ve got to manage to get him a shot. You know he’s good whether they throw a lefty or righty.”
The Mets batted around in the eighth and scored four runs, three unearned.
Carlos Delgado led off with a single against Julian Tavarez (1-3). Pinch-hitter Argenis Reyes sacrificed and was safe at first when second baseman Kelly Johnson dropped the throw for an error. Ryan Church struck out, but Murphy hit a drive to left-center on the first pitch, scoring both runners for a 7-5 lead.
“I was looking for a sinker or slider and got a slider over the plate,” Murphy said.
Reyes and Wright drove in the final runs with singles.
The Braves tied it at 5 in the seventh with an unearned run, helped by two errors.
Pinch-hitter Brandon Jones led off and reached on a throwing error by Reyes at shortstop. Martin Prado singled to right, sending Jones to third and when the ball went under Church’s glove for an error, Jones scored. Pedro Feliciano (3-4) got the inning’s final out for the win.
gs, allowing seven hits and five runs.
“Jo-Jo didn’t get the job done. It’s as simple as that,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Marlins 14, Phillies 8
Rookie Cameron Maybin had four hits for the second straight game and tied a franchise record by reaching base in 10 consecutive plate appearances as the Marlins tied a club record with the ninth straight win.
The Phillies had their season-high seven-game winning streak snapped and fell into second place in the division although they lead the wild card by two games over Milwaukee.
Brett Myers (10-12), who pitched a two-hitter in his last start, gave up five runs in his first 17 pitches before retiring a batter. He departed with no outs in the fifth and allowed a career-high 10 runs.
Maybin, recalled from the minors on Tuesday, singled in his first four at-bats to hike his average to .900 (9-for-10). He popped out in the eighth, ending a streak of eight consecutive hits to tie another franchise record.
Mike Jacobs drove in four runs for Florida, while Dan Uggla hit his 31st home run, Jorge Cantu added his 29th and Alfredo Amezaga drove in three runs with his third homer.
Ryan Howard briefly put Philadelphia ahead with a two-run homer in the fifth, his 46th.
Cardinals 12, Cubs 6
tle when Milwaukee lost to Cincinnati.
After pitching the Cubs’ first no-hitter in 36 years Sunday against Houston in Milwaukee, Carlos Zambrano (14-6) allowed eight runs and six hits in 1 2-3 innings – his shortest outing in two years. It was the shortest start by a pitcher coming off a no-hitter since St. Louis’ Bob Forsch lasted one inning at Pittsburgh in April 1978, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Kennedy tied a career high with four hits while driving in five runs. It was his second career grand slam.
Adam Wainwright (10-3) allowed two runs and four hits over five innings for St. Louis, which had 18 hits.
Reds 11, Brewers 2
Joey Votto and Jay Bruce each hit two homers and Cincinnati had seven in all.
The loss was Milwaukee’s 14th in 18 games. Jeff Suppan (10-10), who went 5-0 in August, has yet to win a game in September, going 0-3 while allowing 19 earned runs in 16 1-3 innings. He lasted only two innings Friday night.
Votto hit Suppan’s sixth pitch of the game for a three-run homer, his 20th. Two batters later, Bruce hit his 20th homer for a 5-0 lead, giving Cincinnati the only pair of 20-homer rookies in the majors.
Manny Parra relieved and gave up four homers – solo shots by Votto, Jolbert Cabrera and Andy Phillips along with a two-run homer by Jerry Hairston Jr. Bruce completed the outburst with a solo shot off Tim Dillard.
x innings for his first victory in the majors.
Giants 7, Dodgers 1
Barry Zito took a shutout into the eighth inning and Bengie Molina homered for the second consecutive game, had three hits and drove in four runs as San Francisco snapped a four-game losing streak.
Zito (10-16) went 7 2-3 innings, allowing a run and six hits while striking out six.
Despite their fourth loss in 19 games, the Dodgers’ magic number for clinching the NL West was reduced to six because of Arizona’s loss at Colorado. Los Angeles leads the Diamondbacks by 3 1/2 games with eight to play.
Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 2
Jorge De La Rosa (9-8) allowed three hits over six innings and Chris Iannetta and Clint Barmes homered for Colorado.
Adam Dunn homered and had two hits, and Mark Reynolds homered for Arizona, which had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Astros 5, Pirates 1
Randy Wolf (11-12) allowed three hits over seven innings and Hunter Pence had two hits and three RBIs as Houston snapped a five-game losing streak. Wolf beat the Pirates for the second time in 10 days and won his sixth straight decision against Pittsburgh.
The Astros, who were held to a combined 16 hits during their losing streak, had six against the Pirates.
Pittsburgh’s Ian Snell (6-12), who didn’t allow a hit until one out in the fourth, gave up one earned run and three hits in six innings.
Nationals 6, 14 innings
Chase Headley had four hits, including a tiebreaking triple that keyed a five-run 14th inning for San Diego.
Kevin Kouzmanoff led off the 14th and was hit by a pitch by Levale Speigner (0-1), Washington’s ninth pitcher, which tied a club record. Headley, who also had two doubles and a single, tripled off the right field wall to score Kouzmanoff and the Padres added four more runs.
Justin Hampson (2-1), San Diego’s eighth pitcher, got one out in the 13th, for the win.
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