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Clutch hit in ninth by Beltran gets Mets past Cubs

Sep 26, 2008 - 5:40 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Fortunes in a pennant race can change by the night. Thanks to a big hit by Carlos Beltran and a dance around the plate by Ryan Church, the New York Mets are feeling a lot better about their chances.

Carlos Beltran singled home Jose Reyes with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as New York overcame a three-run deficit to defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7-6, on Thursday night.

Reyes singled off Kevin Hart (2-2) to open the ninth and stole second after Hart struck out David Wright for the second out of the inning. After an intentional walk to Carlos Delgado, Beltran lined a ball that went off the glove of first baseman Micah Hoffpauir and into right field.

New York (88-71) remained in a tie with the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League wild card playoff berth. Milwaukee defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-1, in 10 innings on the strength of a grand slam by Ryan Braun on Thursday night.

The Mets, who squandered a four-run lead in a 9-6 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday, also moved within one game of the idle Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East.

"We have to let go of what happened the night before. We have no choice," Beltran said. "We can't think about the situation on the field. We have to go out and make things happen."

New York rallied from a three-run deficit, matching the largest hole that it has overcome to win this season. It did it only one other time in a 10-8 win at Cincinnati on July 17.

Joe Smith (6-3), the sixth Mets pitcher, recorded three outs in the ninth for the win.

"The one thing about this team is that it responds to adversity," manager Jerry Manuel said. "Tonight was a good example of that."

The Mets scored twice in the eighth to tie the game at 6-6. Bobby Howry allowed an RBI single to Ramon Martinez and Robinson Cancel then lined a single to right field. The throw from Kosuke Fukudome was in time to get Ryan Church at home, but Church evaded the tag of Koyie Hill and dove back to touch the plate with the tying run.

Church first put out his left hand, but saw that Hill was in front of him, sticking out his right just before the tag by the catcher.

"It's what we practice in spring training," Church said with a smile. "I was a sitting duck right there. If I had slid in straight I would have been out by a mile."

Church also delivered a two-run double in the fourth inning, his first extra-base hit since September 9, to tie the game at 3-3.

Hoffpauir had five hits, including a pair of homers, and drove in five runs for the Cubs, who fielded a makeshift lineup of substitute players.

"It's definitely fun to have a game like that," Hoffpauir said. "All in all, a pretty good night."

After squandering the big lead on Wednesday night, the Mets rested their fortunes with Pedro Martinez, who lasted six-plus innings and was charged with five runs and seven hits.

Martinez left after allowing a single to Felix Pie and a walk to Ryan Theriot in the seventh. Ricardo Rincon relieved and promptly served up a three-run homer to Hoffpauir on his first pitch, giving Chicago a 6-3 lead.

Martinez did strike out a season-high nine batters, tying Bob Gibson for 13th on the all-time list with 3,117. In what may have been his final start for the Mets, he waved to the fans after being removed from the game.

"I appreciate the fans support and wanted to acknowledge them in case this was my last start here," Martinez said. "I couldn't go out without saying goodbye to Shea."

Hoffpauir was starting at first base in Derrek Lee, one of many regulars given the night off by manager Lou Piniella with the Cubs already having clinched homefield advantage throughout the NL playoffs. Rookie catcher Geovany Soto, second baseman Mark DeRosa, third baseman Aramis Ramirez and left fielder Alfonso Soriano all were left out of the starting lineup.

"We've still got to find some answers (about the rest of our postseason roster)," Piniella said.

The 28-year-old Hoffpauir, who drove in 100 runs in 71 games at Class AAA Iowa this season, also hit a solo homer in the first and ripped an RBI double in the third.

Chicago's Rich Harden pitched six effective innings in his final regular-season start, allowing three runs - two earned - and two hits.

David Wright drove in the first run for the Mets with a sacrifice fly in the first. It was the 124th RBI for Wright, tying Mike Piazza's single-season club record set in 1999.