Piazza Draws Fans and Cheers in Met Debut

Mike Piazza was a hit in his New York Met debut, at the plate and in the stands.

Playing in front of a Shea Stadium crowd swelled past its usual size, Piazza lined an RBI double in his first game for New York to highlight a 3-0 victory Saturday over the Milwaukee Brewers at New York.

“I was anxious, no question about it,” Piazza said. “I’m glad I at least did something to build on. That was a nice first step.

“Last night, I had trouble sleeping because I was so excited to get here. I’m just in a daze right now.”

Piazza, acquired a day earlier in a trade with the Florida Marlins, drew loud ovations all afternoon in going one for four.

The crowd of 32,908--the Mets had been averaging 18,278 per home date--included Jerry Seinfeld and nearly 13,000 fans who bought tickets after the trade was announced.

“Knowing that we were going to have a big crowd, knowing we were having Mike Piazza coming in, it was definitely electric in the clubhouse,” winning pitcher Al Leiter said.

Leiter (4-3) pitched a four-hitter for his first shutout since throwing a no-hitter for the Marlins on May 11, 1996, against Colorado. The left-hander won for the first time in five starts, and also had two hits.

Leiter struck out seven, walked one and allowed only one runner past first base. Milwaukee managed two runners after the second inning as Leiter lowered his ERA to a major league-leading 1.49 with his fourth shutout in 152 big league starts.

Piazza, who arrived at the ballpark only two hours before the game because of a plane mix-up, received a raucous New York reception. He was greeted by signs and cheers for everything he did, even when he struck out twice.

“There’s no question that the support has been overwhelming,” he said. “The fans in L.A. were great to me. But there’s no question that this is the East Coast and this is where I’m from.”

The five-time All-Star from Norristown, Pa., grounded out and struck out before rewarding his new fans with his first hit for the Mets, a solid double to the gap in right-center field in the fifth that made the score 2-0.

St. Louis 11, San Francisco 10--Mark McGwire homered twice, giving him seven in his last five games and raising his season total to 23, and the Cardinals hung on to defeat the Giants at St. Louis.

McGwire, who has 12 homers in May, hit a solo homer in the fourth inning off Rich Rodriguez and a three-run, 477-foot shot off John Johnstone (1-2) in the fifth. It was his third multi-homer game this season, the 46th of his career.

McGwire, who drove in four runs to raise his league-leading total to 58, is on pace to hit 79 homers and drive in 200 runs.

He has 28 homers in 47 games at Busch Stadium since the Cardinals acquired him from Oakland last July 31. On Monday, McGwire set the Busch Stadium record for the longest home run with a 545-footer against Florida.

Giant starter Danny Darwin, who hadn’t allowed a run in 15 innings coming in, was pounded for seven runs and seven hits in 1 1/3 innings. The Cardinals’ Manny Aybar wasn’t much better, yielding eight runs--seven earned--and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Cincinnati 4, Colorado 1--Willie Greene, Jon Nunnally and Dmitri Young hit solo homers as the Reds defeated the Rockies at Cincinnati in a game called because of a storm in the bottom of the seventh inning.

All three homers were off Pedro Astacio (4-6), who faltered after a second-inning rain delay and traded plunkings with Cincinnati starter Scott Winchester (3-2), who got credit for his first complete game.

The Reds wound up with only their second victory in eight games when a thunderstorm halted play once again with one out in the bottom of the seventh. The game was called after a 1-hour 9-minute delay.

Montreal 3, Philadelphia 2--Chris Widger’s bases-loaded single off Curt Schilling with two outs and the score tied in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Expos at Montreal.

Rookie Carl Pavano, acquired from Boston in the Pedro Martinez deal last year, pitched seven strong innings in his major-league debut for Montreal. He allowed two runs--one earned--and three hits with six strikeouts. The right-hander didn’t walk a batter and threw 63 of his 93 pitches for strikes.

Chicago 10, Atlanta 6--The Braves’ bullpen cost Dennis Martinez a chance to tie Juan Marichal’s record for wins by a Latin-born pitcher, and the Cubs rallied to win in the 11th inning at Atlanta.

Chicago, which got a so-so outing from Kerry Wood, overcame a 6-2 deficit to win for the first time in eight games at Turner Field. Brave starter John Smoltz removed himself in the third inning because of a sore right elbow and will be evaluated today.

Martinez, 43, pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings as he tried to get his 243rd career win.

Wood had won four consecutive starts, including a record-tying 20-strikeout performance against Houston on May 6, gave up three runs and six hits in six innings.

Pittsburgh 10, Florida 4--Jon Lieber pitched seven innings despite a rough start and sparked a comeback with his bat, leading the Pirates at Miami.

Lieber (2-6), who earned his first victory since April 26, gave up three runs in the first but allowed no hits in his final five innings.

The Pirates overcame a 4-1 deficit, scoring four runs in the third with two outs. Lieber’s single started the rally and improved his average to .353, and Jose Guillen’s RBI double put the Pirates ahead to stay.