Mets Use Pinch Power

National League

Pinch-hitters Carl Everett and Butch Huskey hit consecutive homers in the ninth inning as the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 Sunday and moved over .500 for the first time in nearly three years.

Carlos Baerga led off the ninth with a single off Dennis Eckersley (0-2), and Everett connected for his third homer, making him 2-for-9 as a pinch-hitter. Huskey followed with his second pinch-homer in four days. He hit a game-winning homer in the ninth Wednesday at Houston.

The Mets, who swept the three-game series, hadn’t hit back-to-back pinch homers since May 4, 1991, when Mackey Sasser and Mark Carreon connected against San Francisco.

Cory Lidle (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth for his first major-league victory, and John Franco worked the ninth for his 10th save. Eckersley blew a save for the first time in eight chances this season.

The Mets are 5-1 against the Cardinals the last two weeks and have won 11 of their last 15 games. New York (19-18) is above .500 for the first time since May 30, 1994.

Royce Clayton’s two-run homer in the fifth had given the Cardinals a 4-2 lead. Ray Lankford added a two-run double for the Cardinals.

Clayton singled, stole second and scored in the third on Lankford’s hit off Dave Mlicki as the Cardinals ended a string of 15 consecutive scoreless innings. He homered in the fifth after pitcher Matt Morris singled.

Padres 5, Reds 4 (11)

San Diego

Archi Cianfrocco singled in the winning run in the 11th inning as San Diego won consecutive games for the first time in nearly a month.

Derrek Lee, who had struck out in his previous seven at-bats, drew a leadoff walk from Mike Remlinger (0-2), Greg Vaughn singled and Cianfrocco followed with a liner to center.

Trevor Hoffman (1-2) pitched two innings, helping San Diego to its first two-game winning streak since April 11 and 13 at Philadelphia. The Padres lost 16 of their next 22, including eight straight.

San Diego took a 3-0 lead in the first off Kent Mercker on Tony Gwynn’s RBI double, Ken Caminiti’s run-scoring single and Greg Vaughn’s sacrifice fly.

Caminiti left when he reaggravated a strained right hamstring while running out a grounder to end the fifth. Caminiti missed two games in April with a right hamstring injury. The same hamstring also bothered him in 1996, when he overcame numerous injuries to win the NL MVP.

Braves 8, Pirates 2

Pittsburgh

John Smoltz did in Pittsburgh with his arm and his bat, pitching five-hit ball for seven innings while twice starting run-scoring innings.

Javy Lopez added a two-run homer, his second in as many games since ending an 0-for-20 slump. Chipper Jones had a pair of run-scoring singles and Andruw Jones was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Smoltz (4-3), last year’s NL Cy Young Award winner, helped himself win for the third time in four decisions by going 2-for-3 with a double, single and a walk. He is 4-1 against Pittsburgh the last two seasons.

Expos 6, Dodgers 3 (10)

Los Angeles

Doug Strange’s two-out home run in the ninth inning tied it for Montreal, and the Expos took advantage of third baseman Todd Zeile’s error in the 10th.

The Expos avoided a three-game sweep and ended the Dodgers’ three-game winning streak.

Strange made it 3-all when he connected on a full-count pitch from Todd Worrell. It was the first homer allowed by Worrell, and his third blown save in 13 opportunities.

After Omar Daal (1-0) retired pinch-hitter Mike Piazza on a bases-loaded grounder to end the Los Angeles ninth, the Expos won it with three unearned runs against Tom Candiotti (3-2).

Giants 11, Cubs 5

San Francisco

Barry Bonds broke out of a 1-for-16 slump with a two-run homer and a double as San Francisco had its biggest scoring game of the season.

Bonds, who missed his first game of the season Saturday because of the flu, hit his fifth homer in the first and doubled in the third. He raised his average from .237 to .248 by going 2-for-4 with a walk.

J.T. Snow added his first National League homer for the Giants, who moved into first place in the NL West. Snow reached base in all five of his plate appearances, including three walks, a single and the two-run homer.

Sammy Sosa hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4 with a walk for the Cubs.

Mark Gardner (4-1) settled down after giving up four runs in the first, including the homer by Sosa. Gardner, who has won his last four decisions, allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Phillies 3, Rockies 1

Philadelphia

Curt Schilling tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts and pitched a four-hitter, giving Philadelphia its season-high third straight win.

Colorado lost its fifth in a row, its longest skid of the year.

Schilling (5-3), who leads the majors with 68 strikeouts, did not walk a batter. He struck out Andres Galarraga with a runner on third to end the game.

The only run Schilling allowed came in the third inning when Walt Weiss beat out an infield single, was sacrificed to second and scored on Eric Young’s single.

John Thomson (0-1), promoted from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday, pitched well in his major league debut. He went seven innings and gave up three runs - only one of them earned - and five hits. He struck out seven and walked four.

Gregg Jefferies hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh.

Marlins 6, Astros 3

Miami

Alex Fernandez pitched six innings and hit a two-run double for the first RBIs of his career to lead Florida.

Fernandez (4-4) threw 128 pitches but limited the damage to Houston’s three-run fifth. He allowed six hits and three walks.

Florida’s Moises Alou went 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI. Houston outhit the Marlins 8-7 but left five runners in scoring position.

Robb Nen pitched a hitless ninth for his ninth save in 10 chances.

Fernandez is hitting .294 in his first NL season, and his four doubles this year are a career record for a Marlins pitcher.

Wildness doomed Donne Wall (1-1). Fernandez’s two-out double in the second broke a scoreless tie after Alou walked, Bobby Bonilla singled and Jeff Conine walked.

Clearing the bases

The Cardinals have used 31 different lineups in 36 games… . Ray Lankford, who had one error all last season, has four in 18 games this year… . Cardinals rookie catcher Mike Difelice caught two runners attempting to steal and is 9-for-15… . Brian McRae’s single in the first for Chicago was the 999th hit of his career… . Padres right-hander Tim Worrell will remain active despite breaking his left hand when he punched a wall Friday… . Astros batters have been hit by pitches 20 times to lead the major leagues.