PUJOLS REMAINS HOT BUT CARDS FALL TO LATE METS' RALLY
STL LF Hits 5th and 6th HRs in Last 4 Games
NEW YORK, August 1 (AP) - Albert Pujols continued his scalding hot stretch with
two more home runs but the New York Mets rallied late and beat the St. Louis
Cardinals, 10-9, at Shea Stadium. It was the ninth win in the last 11
games for the Mets. Pujols has now homered in four consecutive games and
has a total of six homers during that span. During his current 10-game
hitting streak, Pujols is hitting .526 (10-for-38) with eight home runs, 16 RBIs
and 18 runs scored.
The Cardinals took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Orlando
Palmeiro led off with a double off Mets starter Steve Trachsel and scored on
Eduardo Perez's base hit. One out later, Edgar Renteria doubled to right
but Perez was thrown out at the plate. Scott Rolen followed with the third
two-bagger of the inning, scoring Renteria.
But the Mets came right back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the
first. Jose Reyes walked and, after Jeff Duncan struck out, Jason Phillips
deposited a Jeff Fassero pitch into the left field bullpen to tie the
game. Cliff Floyd was hit with a pitch and Ty Wigginton doubled him to
third. Roger Cedeno followed with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Floyd
and advancing Wigginton to third and Fassero then uncorked a wild pitch, scoring
Wigginton to make it 4-2.
Pujols first home run of the game, with the bases empty and one out in the
third, cut the New York lead to 4-3 and the the Cardinals came up with a big
inning in the fifth. Palmeiro led off with a base hit, but Perez popped to
second and Pujols hit into a fielder's choice, leaving a runner at first with
two outs. Renteria then dropped a single into right and Rolen drew a walk
to fill the bases. Trachsel tried to work ahead of Tino Martinez with a
first pitch fastball but the St. Louis first baseman drove it over the fence,
just inside the right field foul pole, for a grand slam and a 7-4 Cardinals
lead.
Pujols led off the seventh with his second long ball of the day, off Mets
reliever Edwin Almonte, to make it 8-4 and the Cardinals seemed poised to cruise
to victory. Fassero held New York off the scoreboard after the first with
five shutout innings. Jason Simontacchi came on in relief of Fassero to
start the bottom of the seventh and the Mets immediately got back in the
game. Pinch hitter Raul Gonzalez looped a lead-off single to center and
Reyes followed with an infield hit, putting runners on first and second.
Pedro Borbon replaced Simontacchi and walked Duncan to load the bases.
Phillips rolled into a 6-4 fielder's choice for the first out, but Gonzalez
scored to make it 8-5 and the Mets still had runners on the corners with one
out. Borbon hit Floyd with a pitch--the second time the New York left
fielder had been hit in the game--to refill the bases and Wigginton walked to
force in a run, cutting the St. Louis lead to 8-6. That was it for Borbon;
he was replaced on the mound by Josh Pearce. Cedeno grounded to second,
scoring Duncan to bring the Mets within a single run. Vance Wilson
grounded to short to finally end the inning, with New York now trailing 8-7.
In the bottom of the eighth, Joe McEwing reached on an infield hit to start the
inning and Tony Clark came on to pinch hit for the pitcher. Clark crushed
a Pearce offering over the right field wall to give the Mets a 9-8 lead.
Reyes grounded out but Duncan and Phillips laced consecutive doubles to plate
another New York run. The Mets took their 10-8 lead to the ninth and Mike
Stanton came on to try and close out the game. Pinch hitter Bo Hart
greeted Stanton with a line drive single to center to begin the inning and
Pujols followed that with a base hit to right-center, sending Hart to
third. Stanton was then called for a balk, scoring Hart and moving Pujols,
the potential tying run, into scoring position. Renteria flied to right,
but Pujols tagged and advanced to third and Rolen walked, putting the lead run
on base with only one out. But Martinez popped to Phillips at first and
Cairo followed with another infield pop fly to end the game, with the tying and
go-ahead runs still on the corners.
If Pujols homers in his next game, he will tie the major league season high home
run streak of five, set by Manny Ramirez of Boston in May.
8/1/2003, StL03-NYM03, Shea Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Cardinals 2 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 1 9 14 0 7 0 2003 Mets 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 x 10 12 1 7 0 Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Mets AB R H BI AVG Palmeiro,O cf 5 1 3 0 .304 Reyes,J ss 4 2 1 0 .283 Perez,EA rf 4 0 1 1 .268 Duncan cf 4 1 1 0 .282 Kline p 0 0 0 0 .000 Phillips,JL 1b 5 2 2 4 .283 Simontacchi p 0 0 0 0 .057 Floyd lf 3 1 1 0 .286 Borbon p 0 0 0 0 .000 Stanton p 0 0 0 0 .000 Pearce p 0 0 0 0 .000 Wigginton 3b 4 1 2 1 .245 Isringhausen p 0 0 0 0 .000 Cedeno rf 3 0 0 2 .274 Hart ph 1 1 1 0 .268 Wilson,V c 4 0 0 0 .250 Pujols lf 5 3 3 2 .387 McEwing 2b 4 1 2 0 .259 Renteria ss 5 2 2 0 .292 Trachsel p 2 0 1 0 .194 Rolen 3b 3 1 1 1 .279 Almonte,Ed p 0 0 0 0 .000 Martinez,T 1b 5 1 2 4 .238 Gonzalez,R ph 1 1 1 0 .272 Cairo 2b 5 0 1 0 .211 Cerda p 0 0 0 0 .000 Matheny c 4 0 0 0 .247 Clark,T ph 1 1 1 2 .185 Fassero p 2 0 0 0 .143 Perez,Ti lf 0 0 0 0 .296 Robinson ph 2 0 0 0 .229 35 10 12 9 41 9 14 8 Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Fassero 5.0 5 4 4 1 5 110 69 4.78 Kline H 13 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 12 9 3.71 Simontacchi 0.0 2 2 2 0 0 7 3 5.29 Borbon H 1 0.1 0 1 1 2 0 22 9 20.25 Pearce BS 1, L 0-1 1.0 4 3 3 0 0 21 15 15.43 Isringhausen 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 11 6 0.52 8.0 12 10 10 3 6 183 111 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Trachsel 6.0 11 7 7 1 5 87 63 6.37 Almonte,Ed 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 11 6 6.75 Cerda W 2-0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 15 11 3.12 Stanton S 3 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 22 12 3.31 9.0 14 9 9 2 5 135 92 StL: Robinson batted for Fassero in the 6th Robinson moved to rf in the 6th Hart batted for Isringhausen in the 9th NYM: Gonzalez,R batted for Almonte,Ed in the 7th Clark,T batted for Cerda in the 8th Perez,Ti inserted at lf in the 9th E-Floyd. 2B-Palmeiro,O(9), Renteria(23), Rolen(34), Martinez,T(13), Duncan(4), Phillips,JL(10), Wigginton 2(23). HR-Pujols 2(33), Martinez,T(8), Phillips,JL(8), Clark,T(6). RBI-Perez,EA(42), Pujols 2(97), Rolen(89), Martinez,T 4(54), Phillips,JL 4(39), Wigginton(70), Cedeno 2(27), Clark,T 2(19). K-Perez,EA 2, Pujols, Martinez,T, Matheny, Duncan 2, Floyd, Wigginton, Wilson,V, Trachsel. BB-Rolen 2, Reyes,J, Duncan, Wigginton. SF-Cedeno. HBP-Floyd 2. HB-Fassero, Borbon. WP-Fassero. BALK-Stanton. GWRBI: Clark,T Temperature: 67, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 13 MPH. Attendance: 24,928 Game Time: 3:13