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Beltran powers Mets past Angels

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:24 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Carlos Beltran blasted a pair of solo home runs to lead the New York Mets to a 9-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

Luis Castillo drove in two runs and Jose Reyes scored three runs for the Mets, who had lost seven of their previous 10 contests.

After Reyes opened the scoring in the first by coming home on a throwing error, Beltran doubled the advantage by sending a 1-0 offering from Angels starter Jered Weaver (6-7) over the right-field wall.

"It was a pitch that once I let go, I knew it was going to be trouble," Weaver said. "I just missed with the location and he (Beltran) hit it hard."

Beltran struck again with two outs in the third, hammering a solo shot to center field that extended New York's advantage to 4-1. It was Beltran's 10th home run of the season.

"I got some good pitches to handle tonight," Beltran said. "It was good to come here and get a win in the first game and follow this up with (Johan) Santana (Tuesday)."

Los Angeles cut the deficit to 4-3 in the fourth on a pair of RBI singles by Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick. But the Mets responded with four runs in the seventh.

"We battled back to give us a shot at tying the game up," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It was good to see us put up some runs, but it just wasn't enough tonight."

Castillo delivered a two-run single, David Wright hit an RBI double off the wall in left field and later scored on Casey Kotchman's fielding error as New York grabbed an 8-4 edge.

"This was a nice all-around game for us," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We had a good game offensively today, and hope we can keep it going."

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey (3-6) lasted six-plus innings, surrendering six runs and eight hits with two walks and no strikeouts. It was Pelfrey's first win since April 15.

"I'm excited that I got the win," Pelfrey said. "My confidence is higher and I feel capable of making my pitches. I'm just disappointed I didn't go deeper into the game, but it was a good all-around effort."

Aaron Heilman recorded the final two outs in the seventh with runners on the corners before Duaner Sanchez pitched a perfect eighth. Billy Wagner then slammed the door in the ninth for his 15th save of the season.

"It was good to get a break in the last inning, Billy kept me on the edge of my seat," Randolph said.

Weaver was roughed up for six runs and eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts over 6 1/3 frames. After Beltran's second home run, Weaver did retire 11 of the next 13 batters he faced before running into trouble with one out in the seventh.

"It was a rough start for me, but I ended up getting into a nice groove and pitching my game," Weaver said. "They just got to me early and took advantage."