David Wright delivered two huge hits. Pitcher Claudio Vargas took a big swing, too – off the catcher's mitt.
Wright hit two more home runs off Brad Penny and the newly inspired New York Mets dampened Joe Torre's return home, taking advantage of a rare catcher's interference call to beat the Dodgers 8-4 last night at Shea Stadium.
The Mets won their third in a row and sent the Dodgers to their fourth straight loss.
Always popular in town, Torre managed his first game in New York since parting ways with the Yankees last October after 12 winning seasons. Many fans in the crowd of 52,886 at Shea Stadium stood and cheered when he made a pitching change in the seventh inning, and Torre waved and doffed his cap while walking back to the dugout.
“That made me feel good. Considering the game, it made me feel good,” Torre said. “It was nice. The fact that I started it here. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but I look at the calendar, and it was.”
Torre saw something else strange in the fourth inning with the Mets leading 2-0.
The Mets had two outs and none on when Vargas apparently grounded out – it looked so routine, Vargas basically stopped jogging halfway down the line and the Dodgers began to run off the field.
But catcher Russell Martin was called for tipping Vargas' bat, and the career .082 hitter was awarded first base.
The Mets took full advantage as Jose Reyes followed with a single, Luis Castillo hit an RBI double and Wright connected for his 11th homer and a 6-0 lead.
Wright had his first multihomer game of the season and the eighth of his career. He picked on a familiar victim, improving to 11-for-19 (.579) with four home runs and five walks against Penny.
Other games of note:
GIANTS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3: Randy Johnson fanned nine to tie Roger Clemens for second in career strikeouts (4,672), but Arizona's bullpen blew a lead and Randy Winn's ninth-inning homer gave San Francisco the victory in Phoenix. Tony Peña walked in the tying run in the eighth, then Chad Qualls gave up the homer to Winn. Arizona was swept for the second time in three series and has dropped eight of 10. Johnson left the game with a 3-2 lead after seven innings.
CUBS 8, ROCKIES 4: At Wrigley Field, Alfonso Soriano's two-run single capped a late charge for streaking Chicago, which scored five runs in the last two innings as Colorado pitchers committed two errors. The Rockies lost their fourth straight and ninth in a row on the road. Matt Herges picked up the loss in relief of Jeff Francis.
PIRATES 7, REDS 2: Jason Bay and Xavier Nady each had a homer and a double, leading Pittsburgh to victory and ending Cincinnati's home winning streak at nine. The Pirates salvaged the finale of a three-game series by taking it more than one base at a time. They piled up six doubles and the two homers off a Reds pitching staff that's still out of kilter from an 18-inning loss in San Diego on Sunday.
BLUE JAYS 12, ATHLETICS 0: In Oakland, the Jays' Jesse Litsch held down the opponent's offense just as he did in a shutout of Kansas City in his previous start. Litsch won his fifth straight decision and extended his scoreless streak to 16 innings, and Rod Barajas had three doubles and drove in three runs.
WHITE SOX 5, RAYS 1: While Tampa Bay has been the hottest team in baseball, the White Sox haven't exactly been slouches. The AL Central leaders won the first-ever game at Tropicana Field between teams in sole possession of first place in their divisions, cooling off the East-leading Rays. John Danks allowed one run and six hits in six innings to beat Edwin Jackson for the second time this season.
TWINS 5, ROYALS 1: Kevin Slowey pitched a six-hitter and Carlos Gomez had four hits and two RBI, helping Minnesota hand host Kansas City its 11th consecutive loss, the longest losing streak in the majors this year.
