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Green's walk-off homer provides Mets fourth straight

Jun 26, 2007 - 3:49 AM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) The stakes were not as high as the last time the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals met at Shea Stadium, but Shawn Green again made the outcome a dramatic one.

Green's leadoff homer in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Mets a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals on Monday.

Hitless since the third inning and without a baserunner since the seventh, Green belted a 3-2 fastball from Russ Springer (3-1) over the right field fence for just the Mets' third hit of the game.

"After playing a number of years, I understand that leading off in a ninth, 10th or 11th that you have to get on base," Green said. "I haven't pulled a home run like that in a long time. It felt real good."

The teams met in New York for the first time since Game Seven of last year's National League Championship series, which the Cardinals won with the help of a ninth-inning home run by Yadier Molina.

Eight months later, it was the Mets who were winners, thanks to Green's second career walk-off homer and first since September 20, 2001 for the Los Angeles Dodgers against Arizona. Green had pulled a deep foul ball before connecting off Springer.

"I didn't feel like I had a lot when I went out there. With a 3-2 pitch, I wasn't going to walk him," Springer said. "Somebody's got to win it."

The Mets have won four straight games after losing 13 of 16. It was also the Mets' sixth walk-off win of the season.

"We would have lost this game last week," said Billy Wagner, who threw two scoreless innings as part of a brilliant effort by the Mets' bullpen. "We're tired of getting beaten around."

Aaron Heilman (6-3), who surrendered the home run to Molina last October, pitched a scoreless inning for the victory as New York improved to 4-0 against the Cardinals this season.

Mike Maroth was exceptional in his Cardinals debut, allowing just one run and two hits in 7 1/3 innings with two walks and four strikeouts. The injury-plagued Cardinals acquired the lefthander from the Detroit Tigers on Friday.

"There is so much out of your control as a pitcher," Maroth said. "I just tried to keep it simple."

His one costly mistake was a home run in the third to rookie Carlos Gomez - his third of the season. The only other hit allowed by Maroth was a second-inning single to Carlos Delgado.

New York starter Jorge Sosa was almost as good with six strong innings, allowing one run and six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The righthander had lost his previous two outings, surrendering 13 runs in nine innings.

"I don't think it was his best outing, but he made pitches when he had to," Mets manager Willie Randolph said.

The Cardinals loaded the bases in the seventh off rookie Joe Smith with the help of a double steal by catcher Gary Bennett and Maroth. Smith retired two batters with runners on second and third. After an intentional walk to Albert Pujols, Pedro Feliciano relieved and got Scott Spiezio to ground back to the box to end the inning.

"That's one of the at-bats I wish I had done something," Spiezio said. "We had our chances."

"If we don't have him in that spot, we don't win the game," Wagner said.

St. Louis manufactured a run off Sosa in the fifth.

Adam Kennedy singled off the glove of Sosa for his 1,000th career hit. Bennett singled and both runners moved up on a sacrifice by Maroth before So Taguchi brought home Kennedy with a groundout.

Taguchi had doubled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.

Sosa's night ended after he induced a pair of fly balls to get out of a two-on, one-out jam in the sixth.

Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca was in the lineup after appealing his two-game suspension for his tirade following an ejection in Saturday's contest against the Oakland Athletics