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| Jackson's error helps Mets top Diamondbacks NY METS 5, ARIZONA 2 |
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PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Conor Jackson's throwing error sparked a three-run ninth inning as the New York Mets posted a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. David Wright homered and Jose Reyes drove in a pair of runs for the Mets, who took two of three games from the best team in baseball. "It was a big positive for us," Wright said. "These guys are one of the elite teams in the National League. So to get two out of three and go out there beat Danny Haren - I won't say beat him - to get to him and get him out of the game as early as we did was a positive." With the game tied at 2-2, Carlos Beltran led off the ninth inning with a single and Moises Alou followed with a single to center off Chad Qualls (0-2). Carlos Delgado then hit a tailor-made double-play grounder to first baseman Jackson, who spun to his right but threw past second base and into left field, allowing Beltran to score the go-ahead run. "I kind of came up, it was one of those ones where the runner's kind of in the line," Jackson said. "It seemed like I was trying to go over him, I was trying to be too fine there." "Typically that's what happens, you have to play crisp games like that when pitchers like that are out there on the mound," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "It's usually close at the end, and it's determined by a defensive play or a miscue or something like that, something along those lines, and it was today." After the Diamondbacks intentionally walked Luis Castillo, pinch hitter Marlon Anderson laced Qualls' first pitch into right field to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. Reyes, who had an RBI single in the third, followed with a sacrifice fly to make it a three-run game. Billy Wagner threw a scoreless ninth for his seventh save of the season. The decisive frame came after Arizona's Chris Burke made an unforgivable gaffe by committing the first out of an inning at third base in the eighth. Burke dropped down a leadoff bunt that Pedro Feliciano threw the ball into right field. But Ryan Church made a spectacular one-hop throw that gunned down Burke at third. "I was running towards the ball, took a peek to see what he was doing," Church said. "He was full bore going to third, so my biggest thing in that situation is not to panic or anything like that, grab it and try and make an accurate throw." Jorge Sosa (4-1) relieved Feliciano and got the final two outs of the eight to pick up the win. It was a well-pitched game that featured two aces who were both traded to the National League this season. New York starter Johan Santana dueled with Haren, but neither had anything to show for their impressive outings. Santana, who was acquired from Minnesota in the offseason, allowed one run and six hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and four walks. The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw a season-high 116 pitches and left with a 2-1 lead. "I'm trying to get as much length from him (Santana) as I can," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "(I am) trying to get as much length as I can from my starters, within reason. I told my starters that they are going to have to grind it out sometimes late in the game, everyone's a little bit different." Haren yielded two runs and three hits in six innings. Haren, who was acquired from Oakland in an eight-player trade, struck out seven and walked one. Wright's sixth home run of the season put New York up, 2-0, in the fourth. Chris Snyder had an RBI double in the fourth and Mark Reynolds added a broken-bat single in the seventh to tie it at 2-2 for Arizona. |
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