There’s No Stopping Diamondbacks in 10th

If not for a bone-jarring play at the plate, Luis Gonzalez would have driven in Jay Bell with the go-ahead run six innings earlier Saturday night.

As it was, Bell scored on Gonzalez’s 10th-inning double, which sparked a four-run outburst against Rick White that lifted the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-1 victory over the New York Mets.

Arizona cut San Francisco’s lead in the National League West to 2 1/2 games and the Mets’ wild-card advantage to 4 1/2. The Diamondbacks ended a losing streak at Shea Stadium at six games and an overall skid at four.

In the fourth, Bell opened with a triple off the base of the center-field fence. Gonzalez followed with a fly to medium-center that Jay Payton caught.

Payton fired a one-hop strike into Mike Piazza’s glove as Bell charged in. Bell struck Piazza in the face with his right forearm, sending the catcher backward still in possession of the ball.

“Payton’s been playing an awesome center field,” Gonzalez said. “He got behind that ball good and we challenged him. He stepped up and made a good throw. You have to give Piazza credit because he held on to that ball and took a pretty good blow.”

The fans chanted “MVP! MVP!” as Piazza was attended to by the trainer.

“I’m glad I held on to the ball,” Piazza said. “You don’t want to take a hit like that and not get the out.”

Piazza shook off the effects of the collision and hit his 33rd homer in the sixth inning.