Wilsons Share a Bit of History With Mets

Preston Wilson, the stepson of New York Mets’ first-base coach Mookie Wilson, got three hits in his major league debut, and the Mets used Masato Yoshii’s pitching and surprise hitting to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1, Thursday night in New York.

Wilson, 23, went three for four, drove in a run and stole a base as the Mets won their third game in a row.

Promoted from triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day when Craig Paquette was put on the disabled list, Wilson went right into the lineup, batting leadoff and playing left field.

He got a hit in his first at-bat, beating out an infield single that third baseman Gary Gaetti bobbled.

Wilson got a handshake from Mookie once he got back to the bag.

“He said, ‘Well, you got the first one. Now run the bases,’ ” Preston said.

They became the first father-son combination to play for the Mets.

The Cardinals lost their third game in a row, and have dropped six of seven at the start of a 10-game trip.

Yoshii (2-1) worked seven innings and gave up only two hits, including Brian Jordan’s home run. The Japanese-born pitcher helped himself with his first major league hit, a two-run double that made it 3-1 in the fifth.

Mark McGwire went one for four for the Cardinals, and has made 22 plate appearances since hitting the 399th homer of his career last Friday.

Atlanta 6, San Diego 3--John Smoltz drove in three runs and got his third victory as the Braves won their fourth game in a row.

Atlanta, which has won nine of 10, is off to its best start after 34 games--24-10--since 1969.

Smoltz (3-0) capped a four-run fourth inning with a two-run double off Joe Hamilton (3-2) and added an RBI single in the sixth. The right-hander gave up five hits and three runs with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Andres Galarraga hit a solo home run, his 11th homer, in the fourth for Atlanta. The Braves have at least one homer in 19 consecutive games, one shy of the club record and five short of the NL mark.

The Padres, despite their second loss in a row, are off to their best start in franchise history after 33 games at 22-11.

Pittsburgh 8, Cincinnati 7--Jason Kendall’s two-run single in the eighth capped Pittsburgh’s second comeback of the game as the Pirates dodged three Cincinnati homers and two rain delays to win at Pittsburgh.

Bret Boone, Willie Greene and Chris Stynes homered as the Reds took leads of 3-2 and 7-5 before the Pirates rallied against Stan Belinda with Kendall’s double and Turner Ward’s RBI single in the seventh.

Kevin Polcovich, only one for 18 this season, doubled to start the eighth before Tony Womack’s single and Al Martin’s walk brought on Jeff Shaw, who was pitching for the fifth time in six games.

Kendall, who went three for five with three RBIs, followed with a two-run single to left as the Pirates won their third in a row after losing five of six.

Elmer Dessens (1-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the victory.

The Reds put two runners on in the ninth against Ricardo Rincon before Rich Loiselle got two outs for his eighth save.

Boone had hit a go-ahead two-run shot--his sixth home run--in the sixth off Esteban Loaiza after a three-run rally put Pittsburgh ahead 5-4, and Greene added a solo homer in the seventh off Chris Peters.

Montreal 2, Colorado 1--Carlos Perez took a shutout into the ninth inning and won for the first time in 12 starts dating to Sept. 3 as the Expos beat the Rockies at Montreal.

After pitching well in his previous seven starts, Perez finally got a victory to show for it all.

“Eight consecutive quality starts,” Montreal Manager Felipe Alou said. “What we see is a guy who could probably be 8-0. Fortunately, today we rallied big and gave him two runs.”

Montreal scored twice in the sixth off Jamey Wright (2-3).

Mark Grudzielanek walked leading off, took third on Vladimir Guerrero’s single and scored with a headfirst slide on Derrick May’s groundout, just beating the throw from first baseman Todd Helton.

Wright loaded the bases with walks to Brad Fullmer and Shane Andrews and, with the count full, Chris Widger hit a slow roller for an infield single.

Perez (1-3) gave up seven hits in eight-plus innings, struck out four and walked none. He did not allow a runner past first until Neifi Perez’s leadoff double in the eighth.

After he gave up a leadoff triple to Ellis Burks to open the ninth and Larry Walker followed with an RBI single, Ugueth Urbina finished for his seventh save in eight chances.

San Francisco at Chicago--The game between the Giants and Cubs was postponed because of rain. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Aug. 20.