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Mets score four in ninth, win 10th straight

Jul 18, 2008 - 4:23 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- It seems that the All-Star break could not break up the New York Mets' torrid pace.

David Wright hit a game-tying, two-run homer and Carlos Delgado had the go-ahead single in a four-run ninth inning as the Mets rallied for their 10th straight win, a 10-8 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night.

"You got a guy with two-plus pitches, the fastball and the slider, so you got to go up there looking for one of them," Wright said of his homer. "I was looking for the slider the entire at-bat. I got it on the first pitch but couldn't pull the trigger. Then, I got it again on the third pitch. I got under it a little bit and hit it out of the ballpark."

Fernando Tatis hit a two-run homer and Wright had four RBI for the Mets (52-44), who have won 10 straight for the first time since 1991 and pulled into a first-place tie with the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.

New York's 10-game run tied the Minnesota Twins for baseball's longest winning streak of the season.

"Momentum is one of those strange things. You can't identify it until it is over. I guess we still have it," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said of his team continuing to win after the All-Star break.

An underachieving club for much of the season, New York fired manager Willie Randolph last month before ending the first half with nine straight triumphs under Manuel. The Mets started the second half on a good note, hammering Reds closer Francisco Cordero (4-2) for six hits.

Cordero (4-2) blew his fifth save of the season after allowing Wright's homer - that was just out of the reach of right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. - and RBI singles to Delgado and Tatis.

"That hurts big time because we played so hard and fought. We just made some mistakes, and left some balls up in the zone and they hit them out of the ballpark," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

However, Cordero showed the short memory of a closer after the game.

"You got to be ready for the next day. Nothing that you can do about it tonight. It's over tonight, now let's get ready for tomorrow's game," Cordero said.

Delgado and Tatis also each added two-run blasts earlier in the game. Delgado's 438-foot shot - which completely left Great American Ballpark - was his 449th of his career, tying Jeff Bagwell for 33rd on the all-time list.

"I got a hanging slider (Reds righthander Johnny Cueto) left a hanging slider up over the middle of the plate, and I was able to lift it up in the air," Delgado said of his mammoth blast in the fourth.

Cueto lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing six runs and six hits while striking out six.

Cordero's lead in the ninth came courtesy of a three-run, pinch-hit double in the seventh by Javier Valentin that gave the Reds an 8-6 lead.

The other offense for the Reds came in a five-run fourth, which included back-to-back homers by Adam Dunn and Edwin Encarnacion that chased New York starter Johan Santana.

In his shortest outing of the season, Santana went four innings, allowing five runs and six hits while striking out two.

"It was a tough day," Santana said. "Trying to battle the weather (on a hot day) and everything. I was trying to get into a groove, but I wasn't able to get anything going. The ball was running a little bit out of the strike zone, and they put some good at-bats together and took some pitches."

Carlos Muniz and Pedro Feliciano combined to hold Cincinnati scoreless in the fifth and sixth. After Aaron Heilman allowed Valentin's double, Scott Schoenweis recorded the final out of the seventh.

After Duaner Sanchez (4-1) worked a scoreless eighth for the win, Billy Wagner picked up his 23rd save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.