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Tatis hits pinch-hit slam to lift Mets to 7-3 win

Jul 28, 2009 - 8:35 AM By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK(AP) -- Fernando Tatis admitted he was just trying to hit a fly ball at spacious Citi Field. With one out and the bases loaded in the eighth inning, he knew that anything reasonably deep would send in the go-ahead run.

Then the ball he hit kept sailing, finally landing in the outfield seats.

Tatis' pinch-hit grand slam lifted New York to a 7-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night, and took some of the sting out of an otherwise miserable day for the club that included the dismissal of a team executive during a bizarre news conference.

"Once the game starts and we get to competing against the opponent, I don't think those things for a moment factor into what we do," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said of the front-office situation. "We can't waver for a second in what we do."

Tatis certainly didn't, connecting off Franklin Morales for the first hit allowed by the Colorado bullpen in four games. Juan Rincon (2-2) had loaded the bases by walking Luis Castillo and David Wright, then putting Jeff Francoeur aboard intentionally, before Tatis deposited an 0-2 pitch into the seats in left field.

"I was just trying to hit a fly ball," Tatis said, "and it happened."

The pinch-hit slam was the first for the Mets since May 30, 2000.

Brian Stokes and Pedro Feliciano (3-3) pitched three innings of shutout ball for New York, and All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez worked a perfect ninth

Troy Tulowitzki hit a two-run homer and Clint Barmes also went deep for the Rockies, who lead the NL wild-card race and had won seven of their first 10 games since the All-Star break.

"We created opportunities, but we stranded runners tonight," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "That's going to happen."

The day got off to a rocky start for the Mets when GM Omar Minaya called a mid-afternoon news conference to announce the firing of Tony Bernazard, his vice president of player development.

Bernazard was dismissed after an embarrassing series of incidents that included a heated argument with Rodriguez, challenging minor-league players to a fight, and berating a team employee over a seating mix-up.

Minaya's news conference then took a bizarre turn when he questioned the motives of beat writer Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News, who had reported on the recent turmoil and who Minaya said had lobbied him for a job. Rubin called the allegation "deplorable" and said he had merely asked Minaya and Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon for career advice.

"It's only my second week and there's been a lot of crazy stuff already," said Francoeur, who joined the Mets (47-51) in a trade with the Atlanta Braves.

"It's been a rough season," Francoeur added, returning the conversation to baseball. "You sit there and say we still have 60, 65 games left. We can still make a run. Nobody on this team is giving up."

Giants 4, Pirates 2=

At San Francisco, Tim Lincecum (11-3) looked like his old self, pitching a four-hitter and bouncing back from a rough outing with a career-high 15 strikeouts.

Lincecum dazzled on a night the Giants paid tribute to late owner Sue Burns, who died July 19 of complications from lung cancer only nine days after being diagnosed.

Paul Maholm (6-5) was tagged for eight hits and four runs in six innings.

Reds 6, Padres 4=

At Cincinnati, Brandon Phillips hit the first of Cincinnati's four homers, a three-run shot that helped end the Reds' longest losing streak of the season at six games.

The teams combined for seven homers.

Jonny Gomes and Edwin Encarnacion also had solo homers off Josh Geer (1-7).

Homer Bailey (2-2) gave up a pair of solo homers, but held on for 7 1-3 innings to get his first victory since June 27.

Cardinals 6, Dodgers 1=

At St. Louis, Chris Carpenter (9-3) wrapped up an undefeated month and Brendan Ryan matched a career high with four hits for St. Louis.

Matt Holliday lined an RBI double off the base of the center-field wall in his first home at-bat and Mark DeRosa homered for the fifth time in 13 games with St. Louis.

Randy Wolf (5-5) worked six or more innings for the sixth straight start and allowed two runs on seven hits.

Nationals 14, Brewers 6=

At Milwaukee, Josh Willingham hit two grand slams and tied a franchise record with eight RBIs.

Willingham became the 13th player to hit two grand slams in a game and first since Boston's Bill Mueller hit one from each side of the plate on July 29, 2003, against Texas.

Willingham hit his 15th homer off Jeff Suppan (5-8) in the fifth. Then he connected again in the sixth off Mark DiFelice.

Jason Bergmann (1-1) pitched 1 1-3 innings after rookie Craig Stammen was pulled one out short of qualifying for the win.

Cubs 5, Astros 1=

At Chicago, Alfonso Soriano redeemed himself for an earlier mental miscue by hitting a game-ending grand slam off Chris Sampson (4-2) in the 13th inning to lead the Cubs past Houston.

Jeff Samardzija (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings in relief as the Cubs won their fifth straight and maintained their half-game lead over the Cardinals in the NL Central.

Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 2=

At Phoenix, Jamie Moyer pitched 6 2-3 shutout innings and Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer.

Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez, Pedro Feliz and Paul Bako each drove in a run as the Phillies stretched their lead in the NL East to a season-high seven games.

The 46-year-old Moyer (10-7) worked out of jams in each of the first three innings.