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Tatis homers to lift Mets to marathon win

Jul 7, 2008 - 3:23 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- In a game that took four hours and 25 minutes to play, plus a rain delay that lasted nearly three hours, Fernando Tatis made it all add up in a victory for the New York Mets.

Tatis hit a two-run home run off Chad Durbin in the 12th inning to help the Mets outlast the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, on Sunday in the third game of a four-game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Joe Smith (1-1) got the win in relief, despite closer Billy Wagner blowing his sixth save of the season and Carlos Beltran had a solo home run and RBI single for the Mets.

"For us, it was a good win," Beltran said. "This is the way we should be playing the game. We've been doing that lately. It's a good sign for the team."

Carlos Delgado began the 12th with a walk off Durbin (2-2). After a sacrifice by Damion Easley, Tatis drove a 2-2 pitch over the left-center field fence for a two-run blast, his second homer of the season.

"It's amazing. I was just looking for a good pitch to hit," Tatis said. "I tried not to strike out and I hit a homer."

"(Durbin) made a bad pitch to Tatis," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "It was a slider that stayed up. Tatis put a good swing on it."

For Durbin, it was a different feeling than his outing on Friday where he retired all seven Mets batters he faced with six strikeouts in a Phillies' 3-2 win.

"Giving up a two-run home run, I know how Wagner feels," Durbin said. "It would have been nice to come away with a win."

With the Mets leading 2-0, Wagner was one strike away from securing the win, but Jayson Werth drove a 1-2 offering into the left-center field seats for a game-tying, two-run home run.

Wagner has blown six of 25 save opportunities.

"You'd like to have a better (save) ratio than I have for a closer," Wagner said. "I threw a hanging slider and Jayson hit it. I don't think you can sit there and say, 'What if I blow another one?' because it may happen."

The game was halted by rain in the bottom of the eighth after the Phillies put runners on first and second with one out. When play resumed after two hours and 50 minutes, Pedro Feliciano struck out Ryan Howard for the second out.

Aaron Heilman then replaced Feliciano and walked Pat Burrell to load the bases before retiring Pedro Feliz on a comebacker to end the threat.

Beltran gave New York a 2-0 advantage when he delivered a two-out, run-scoring single off Brad Lidge in the ninth.

Both starting pitchers - New York's Oliver Perez and Philadelphia's Kyle Kendrick - labored throughout their stints. Perez threw 110 pitches, while Kendrick tossed 112.

After a slow start, Perez eventually settled down and retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced. The southpaw went seven innings and allowed no runs on four hits with two walks, six strikeouts and a wild pitch.

"I kept the team in the game because there were a lot of tough innings," Perez said.

Kendrick went six innings and gave up a run and scattered eight hits. The righthander had three walks along with two strikeouts.

Both teams failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities in the first two innings. The Mets finally broke through in the third when Beltran lined a 3-2 pitch that just cleared the fence in right for a two-out, solo home run, his 13th of the season, to give New York a 1-0 lead.