Mets take two of three

Tsuyoshi Shinjo wasn`t surprised that he hit a game-winning homer in the ninth inning Thursday night. In fact, he expected to be the hero.

"I believe in myself in those situations," Shinjo said through an interpreter. "I don`t get surprised."

Shinjo broke a tie with a leadoff homer in the ninth, lifting the New York Mets to a 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

"He came (from Japan) with a reputation of being a clutch hitter," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "He`s proven that to be true. He`s had some big hits and I am impressed by his talent every day."

New York, swept at home by Philadelphia from May 28-30, took two of three in its last series before the start of interleague play.

Mike Piazza and Edgardo Alfonzo, who missed seven games with back spasms, homered for the defending NL champions, still 11 games back of the Phillies in the NL East.

"We`re capable of hitting some homers and coming back," Valentine said. "We did both tonight."

New York trailed 5-3 in the seventh before rallying. Shinjo had an RBI grounder in the seventh off Ricky Bottalico that scored Piazza, who reached on an error by shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

Alfonzo tied it with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, a drive left fielder Pat Burrell caught against the fence.

Shinjo connected on a 1-0 fastball from Jose Mesa (1-1) for his fifth homer of the season. In the third, Shinjo missed a homer by a few feet, doubling on a ball that bounced off the right-field wall about two feet from the top.

"I guess we sort of self-destructed," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "Walks, errors, a wild pitch. You`re not going to win like that."

The Phillies bullpen, one of the reasons the team is in first place, could not hold the two-run lead.

"I don`t see any sharpness in the bullpen right now," Bottalico said. "None of us are doing that well."

John Franco (2-1) struck out the side in the eighth, allowing one hit, and Armando Benitez finished for his ninth save in nine chances.

Philadelphia`s lead over second-place Atlanta was cut to four games.

Marlon Anderson put Philadelphia ahead in the second with an RBI grounder, but New York went ahead 3-1 in the third on consecutive homers by Alfonzo and Piazza. Alfonzo, who has nine homers, hit a two-run shot. Piazza`s 16th homer bounced off the facade in left field.

Philadelphia took a 5-3 lead in the fifth on a two-run triple by Rollins and a sacrifice fly by Scott Rolen.

Mets starter Dicky Gonzalez and Philadelphia`s Bruce Chen each went five innings. Gonzalez allowed five runs, five hits and three walks, while Chen gave up three runs, eight hits and four walks.

Game notes:
The back-to-back homers were the first of the season for New York. ... Philadelphia`s Doug Glanville had a single in the fifth, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. He had a 15-game streak earlier in the season. ... New York`s Benny Agbayani returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a lower back injury and went 2-for-5. ...The Mets outhit the Phillies 34-20 in the three-game series.

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)