Piazza Has Big Hand in Victory

A day after driving in New York’s only runs with a 485-foot homer in a 2-1 Met victory, Mike Piazza’s biggest contribution was on the base paths Saturday.

Piazza slid hard into second base and broke up a double play by tipping a throw with his left hand which led to a run in the seventh inning. Tony Phillips made up for a rough sixth with a two-run homer in the eighth to lead the Mets to a 5-4 victory over Atlanta.

“Big, big, big,” Phillips said of Piazza’s play. “We scored a run on that. That shows you what kind of heart he has.”

Piazza went for X-rays after the game and said he may have to rest for a day.

“Fortunately,” he said, “I didn’t get hit in the chops.”

Trailing, 4-2, Piazza’s hustle helped the Mets close within a run. After John Olerud singled with one out against Dennis Martinez, Piazza executed a perfect hit-and-run single against John Rocker to send Olerud to third.

Brian McRae then hit a grounder to second and Olerud scored when Piazza slid into second base and deflected shortstop Ozzie Guillen’s throw to first.

After misplaying a fly ball into a double and then flying out with the bases loaded in the sixth, Phillips homered against Rudy Seanez for the victory.

Turk Wendell (5-1) struck out two in the eighth, and John Franco finished for his 32nd save.

The Mets remained one game behind Chicago in the NL wild-card race.