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Maine pitches Mets past Twins

Jun 19, 2007 - 2:47 AM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- John Maine stopped some of the bleeding for the New York Mets.

Maine pitched 7 1/3 strong innings and Carlos Delgado and Ricky Ledee homered as the Mets won for just the third time in their last 14 games with an 8-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

Paul Lo Duca had a two-run single for the Mets, who returned home from a 2-7 road trip in which they allowed at least eight runs in five of those contests. Maine gave them the well-pitched game they desperately needed, winning for just the second time in his last seven starts.

"It all starts with pitching. John threw really well and kept grinding," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We're going to hit. Pitching is the key."

David Wright had three of the 15 hits for the Mets, who had scored two runs or less in four of their last five games.

The Twins, who began a stretch in which they will play 16 of 20 games on the road leading up to the All-Star break, again came up short offensively for Carlos Silva (4-8). In six of Silva's losses, the Twins have been held to one run or less.

"There is so much pressure on a pitcher when you're not scoring," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We're just not getting any runs for him."

Maine (7-4) has pitched relatively well of late, allowing two runs or less in four of his last five starts, even if he did not have the wins to show for it. The righthander allowed one run and four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

"I threw a lot more off-speed stuff," Maine said. "They're a good hitting team, so I just let our defense play. Things are starting to change here for everybody."

Dating to last July, the Mets are 7-3 in games started by Maine following New York defeats.

Maine left with a runner on second in the eighth before Pedro Feliciano allowed a bloop run-scoring double to Michael Cuddyer in the eighth. Aaron Heilman pitched a scoreless ninth to cap the game.

Minnesota second baseman Luis Castillo was 0-for-4, ending his 32-game hitting streak at Shea Stadium, the longest in the 44-year history of the ballpark. The entire streak came during Castillo's tenure with the Florida Marlins.

Silva allowed four runs, 10 hits and two walks while striking out one in six innings.

"I wish I could face these guys again," Silva said. "I know I made mistakes. I know what the situation was there."

Delgado opened the scoring with his 11th homer of the season with one out in the second.

He then singled in the fourth and went to third on an opposite-field double by Shawn Green, but was thrown out trying to score on a ground ball to shortstop Jason Bartlett. Ledee brought Green home with a single to right field to make it 2-0.

Lo Duca, who was just 6-for-35 (.171) with two outs and runners in scoring position, increased the lead to 4-0 in the sixth with a single to right-center field off Silva on an 0-2 pitch. The single scored Jose Valentin, who had singled, and Ledee, who had walked, both with two outs, and came after an intentional walk to Jose Reyes.

"It was a monkey off my shoulder. I'll take the challenge," said Lo Duca, who was nearly left out of the starting lineup after taking a pitch off his elbow on Sunday against the Yankees. "I'm trying to use the whole field again. I finally got a hit when it counted."

The Mets broke open the game with four runs in the eighth off Juan Rincon.

Ledee homered, Carlos Beltran and Wright had RBI doubles and Carlos Gomez delivered a sacrifice fly.