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Glavine almost perfect before Mets finish off Astros

Sep 8, 2007 - 8:58 PM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Tom Glavine said he did not have the stuff to throw a no-hitter, but he had more than enough to shut down the Houston Astros.

Glavine pitched five perfect innings and later tired in the eighth and Aaron Heilman struck out the side in the penultimate frame as the New York Mets defeated the Astros for the second straight day, 3-1, on Saturday.

David Wright homered for the Mets, who won for the seventh time in eight games and opened up a 6 1/2-game lead over second-place Philadelphia in the National League East. The Phillies host Florida later on Saturday.

"Today I didn't feel like I had the extra life on my fastball," Glavine said. "It was all about location and feeling comfortable."

The Astros lost their fourth straight game and fell to 4-7 since Cecil Cooper took over as interim manager for the fired Phil Garner.

Glavine (13-6) retired the first 15 batters of the game before Cody Ransom singled cleanly to left-center field leading off the sixth. Ransom was quickly erased when Eric Munson grounded into a double play.

It was the fourth time that the 41-year-old lefthander has had a perfect game bid of at least five innings and his third time as a Met.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner said the thought of a no-hitter did not enter his mind.

"Not with my stuff. I never think about a no-hitter until the seventh or eighth," Glavine admitted.

Mets manager Willie Randolph agreed, noting that Glavine forces a lot of ground balls, making him less likely to throw a no-hitter. Randolph took greater comfort in that Glavine is pitching his best baseball as the season winds down.

"That's what you get from guys who know how to win, who know what time it is," he said.

Glavine won for the eighth time in his last nine decisions, allowing three hits with no walks and four strikeouts in seven-plus innings.

"It's pretty much what he's done for a long time," Ransom said. "That's why he's won 300 games."

Glavine went swiftly through the seventh before hitting the wall in the eighth. Carlos Lee and Mark Loretta both singled leading off the frame before Glavine was replaced by Heilman, who gave up a bloop single to former Met Ty Wigginton to make it 3-1.

Despite allowing the inherited runner to score, Heilman responded by striking out Ransom, Munson and pinch hitter Mike Lamb to end the inning.

"Tommy pitched a great game. It's great to preserve what he pitched," Heilman said.

In the ninth, closer Billy Wagner struck out one in the ninth for his 31st save.

The closest the Astros came to a hit in the first five innings was in the second when right fielder Lastings Milledge raced back to the wall and caught a line drive by Lee at the warning track.

Woody Williams (8-14) took the loss, allowing three runs and five hits in six innings.

The Astros had lost their last two games by a combined score of 25-5.

"It was a very competitive game and if these guys play like that for the most part the rest of the year, I'll be very happy," Cooper said. "We're in every game that way, all we have to do is just come up with a big hit."

Wright homered the opposite way to right field in the third. It was his 27th homer, tying his career best set in 2005.

New York increased the led to 2-0 in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Shawn Green and Paul Lo Duca. Luis Castillo walked in the fifth, stole second and later scored on a wild pitch by Williams for a 3-0 lead.

Mets outfielder Moises Alou singled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.