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Rejuvenated Wright helps Mets avoid sweep

Jun 26, 2008 - 3:07 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- A day off for David Wright worked wonders for the New York Mets.

Wright hit two of the Mets' three home runs and John Maine pitched six effective innings as New York salvaged the finale of a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners, 8-2, on Wednesday.

Jose Reyes added a three-run homer for the Mets, who led 8-0 after three innings and made some amends for a humbling 11-0 loss to the last-place Mariners on Tuesday.

Wright had been in the lineup for every inning of every game, including one contest as a designated hitter, before being rested Tuesday by interim manager Jerry Manuel.

"I have to be cognizant of when he is getting fatigued," Manuel said. "We need to give him a day here or there."

The third baseman responded with a pair of home runs off Miguel Batista (3-10) - his second multi-homer game of the season and the 11th of his career. Wright also hit two homers May 29 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"(Manuel's) known me personally for a while now, so he knows when he sees fatigue," Wright said. "As much as I don't like taking a day off, I know it's going to help me in the long run."

The Mariners fell to 3-3 under new manager Jim Riggleman and were unable to complete their first three-game sweep of the season. The Mets are 4-4 since Manuel replaced Willie Randolph.

"They came out swinging the bats pretty good," Riggleman said. "(Batista) didn't have it tonight."

Maine (8-5) allowed two runs and five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The righthander did not allow a hit until the fifth, but labored through his last two frames and was gone after throwing 105 pitches.

Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith and Duaner Sanchez each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the victory.

"I had an eight-run lead, so I wasn't going to stay in there," Maine said. "I worked through it."

Batista, who moved back into the rotation after Erik Bedard was unable to go due to back spasms, lasted just 2 2/3 innings and allowed eight runs - four earned - with five hits and five walks.

"I need to be able to make pitches the way I know I can. My velocity was way down," said Batista, who joined Oakland's Joe Blanton as the only American League pitchers to reach double digits in losses this season.

Wright hit a solo home run as part of a two-run first. Reyes drew one of three walks by the Mets off Batista in the inning and later scored the first run. Luis Castillo reached on a bunt single with two outs in the second before Wright hit his 14th homer of the season to left-center field to increase the lead to 4-0.

An errant throw by third baseman Adrian Beltre prevented a double play for Seattle in the third, and paved the way for four unearned runs. Marlon Anderson drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly and Reyes capped the frame with a three-run homer to make it 8-0.

The Mariners scored twice in the fifth on an RBI single by Willie Bloomquist and a sacrifice fly by Ichiro Suzuki.