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Reyes' three-run triple sparks Mets in rout

Jul 4, 2008 - 4:34 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Jose Reyes sparked a six-run third inning with a three-run triple, leading the New York Mets to an 11-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.

Carlos Delgado hit a two-run homer and added a sacrifice fly for New York, which improved to 8-8 under interim manager Jerry Manuel.

Chris Duncan drove in the lone run for St. Louis, which has lost 10 of the last 14 meetings between the clubs.

New York, which scored three runs in the first, broke open the game by sending 10 men to the plate in the third.

"I don't want to say that we're due, but we're due," Delgado said. "We know that we have a good offensive ballclub. We just haven't been able to put it together consistently. It's nice to see that we're playing better and we've been a little bit more consistent."

The Mets have scored 18 runs in the past two games, and now take their offense to hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park for the opener of a four-game series with the National League East Division-leading Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

"We played good here," Reyes said. "The bats came around a little bit. Hopefully, we can take that momentum to Philadelphia."

Ryan Church started the third-inning rally with a one-out double off rookie starter Mitchell Boggs (3-1) and Delgado drew a walk.

Damion Easley reached on an infield single and, after a walk to Ramon Castro, Marlon Anderson drove in a run with a groundout. Starter Mike Pelfrey made it 5-0 with his first career RBI single, and the speedy Reyes followed with his major league-leading 10th triple to center field to make it an eight-run bulge.

Endy Chavez capped the outburst with an RBI double and Delgado blasted a two-run homer - his 15th of the season - in the sixth for an 11-0 cushion.

Pelfrey (6-6) was the beneficiary of the offensive display. The 24-year-old righthander allowed one run and six hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking two in extending his career-high winning streak to four.

"It made it a lot easier," said Pelfrey, who has received 20 runs of support in his last two starts. "If you can't win with that kind of run support, you know you're going to have problems. It's great. Anytime your offense gives you that kind of run support, it takes all the pressure off. You don't feel like you have to be so perfect."

The only bad news for New York came the sixth, when third baseman David Wright left the game with a left groin injury. While on the basepaths, Wright ducked out of the way of a line drive to first after drawing a leadoff walk and bent over in pain but stayed in the contest and scored on Delgado's homer.

Former Cardinal Fernando Tatis replaced him at third base in the bottom of the frame.

"I just went down a little awkwardly. I stretched out and I'm fine," Wright said. "I'll be in (the lineup) tomorrow."

Boggs was rocked for 11 runs - 10 earned - 10 hits and six walks in six innings.

"He had a tough night," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "He had several things go wrong. The encouraging thing is that they're all fixable."