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Twice as nice: Mets end grand slam drought, pound Tigers

Jun 29, 2011 - 4:42 AM Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - For a team that hadn't hit a grand slam since 2009, the New York Mets sure made it look simple with two in as many innings.

Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran each cleared the bases in the fourth and fifth inning, respectively, to break a 299-game drought without a grand slam, as the Mets took commanding 14-3 win over the Detroit Tigers to open a three-game interleague set.

The large offensive output saw a season-high in hits (18) that included Jose Reyes' 4-for-4 showing at the plate. The victory also put the Mets over the .500 mark (40-39) for the first time since the opening week of the season.

"We're not one of those bopping teams," Bay admitted. "We're more of a string two or three hits together instead of a bloop and a blast. It was nice to show that we can still hit the ball out of the ballpark."

The offense overshadowed a solid start by R.A. Dickey (4-7), who allowed three runs on 10 hits and struck out six over seven innings.

"It sure feels like the beginning of the season, if we were at all," Dickey said about his team having a winning record. "Hopefully this is going to be that resistance point that when we break through we can really continue to go."

Austin Jackson had a two-run homer and Andy Dirks added a solo shot for Detroit, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Tigers starter Rick Porcello (6-6) continued his recent struggles, yielding seven runs on 11 hits in just 3 2/3 innings. Over his last three starts, he has given up 21 runs in 11 1/3 frames.

Reyes, who finished a home run shy of a cycle, didn't take long to jump start the Mets' offense, ripping the second pitch of the game for a single up the middle. After Willie Harris popped out and a Beltran's flyout, Daniel Murphy lined a double to center to score Reyes. Angel Pagan followed with a double to bring Murphy around for an early 2-0 lead.

The Mets blew the game open with a two-out rally in the fourth. Josh Thole sparked it with his first home run of the season. Reyes kept it going with a triple and scored on Harris' single. Beltran singled and touched home on Murphy's sharp grounder that was tipped by third baseman Brandon Inge.

Porcello was pulled after that for Daniel Schlereth, who continued the nightmare inning. The reliever walked Pagan to load the bases and set up Bay's third career grand slam, a blast to left. It was the first Mets' grand slam since Pagan hit one on August 1, 2009.

Schlereth fanned Lucas Duda to end the inning, but gave up Beltran's ninth career grand slam in the fifth to send the Mets ahead 13-0 .It came just after Schlereth hit Harris with a pitch.

"I wasn't making terrible pitches, some of them weren't very good," Schlereth said. "Beltran and Bay are good hitters, they're professional hitters. Some mistakes, but those guys are good."

During the bottom of the same frame, Jackson's two-run homer into the bullpen in left barely put a dent into the deficit.

Dirks drilled a homer into the right field seats in the seventh, but the Mets got the run back in the eighth on Justin Turner's RBI single to make up the final score.

Game Notes

The Mets gave up 18 grand slams during their drought, most in the majors in that span. The Milwaukee Brewers are now the team with the longest dry spell, with no grand slams since June 14, 2010...The last time the Mets had two grand slams in a game was at Wrigley Field on July 16, 2006 when Cliff Floyd and Beltran hit two in the same inning...The last time the Tigers gave up two grand slams was April 13, 2008 at the Chicago White Sox...Reyes has 15 triples this season...It was Bay's first grand slam in a Mets uniform and first since 2006. It was Beltran's first grand slam since 2008.