Alfonzo’s Home Runs Give Mets Some Hope

Edgardo Alfonzo homered twice and sparked a five-run outburst in the eighth inning for the New York Mets in a 9-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday at Atlanta.

Mike Piazza had four hits, including his 36th home run, as New York climbed within four games of the Braves in the East with six games to play.

The defending NL champions got in this predicament by giving up seven runs in the ninth Saturday, capped by Brian Jordan’s two-out grand slam in Atlanta’s 8-5 victory.

Jordan gave the Mets another scare, hitting a three-run homer in the eighth for Atlanta’s final three runs.

But Dickey Gonzalez and Armando Benitez got the final six out, with Benitez picking up his 43rd save.

Florida 8, Philadelphia 3--The Phillies wasted two home runs by Bobby Abreu at Miami.

Philadelphia remained two games behind the Braves in the NL East heading into their three-game showdown at Atlanta starting Tuesday.

Derrek Lee hit a three-run homer for Florida to break a scoreless tie in the fourth inning.

Florida’s Josh Beckett (2-1), scratched from his last start because of a blister on his right middle finger, gave up one run and three hits in six innings of his third career start.

Abreu’s homer pulled the Phillies to within 4-1 in the sixth, but the Marlins added three runs in the sixth.

Abreu, who has 30 homers and 36 stolen bases, joined Montreal’s Vladimir Guerrero as the only players with 30 steals and homers this season.

Chicago 7, Houston 6--Ricky Gutierrez’s scoring flyout in the eighth inning at Chicago sent the skidding Astros to their third consecutive loss.

Houston’s lead over St. Louis in the NL Central was reduced to one game, the Astros’ smallest advantage since Aug. 18.

The Cubs are five games behind St. Louis for the wild-card spot with six games remaining.

The Astros took a 6-3 lead into the seventh, but the bullpen let it get away. Their pitching staff tied a season high by giving up nine walks.

Wade Miller gave up four hits and struck out eight in six innings.

Scott Chiasson (1-1) got his first major league victory.

St. Louis 7, Pittsburgh 3--Woody Williams won for the seventh time in eight decisions since joining the Cardinals and Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer, his 37th, at St. Louis.

Williams (15-9) gave up three runs--two earned--and struck out eight in seven innings to improve to 7-1 with a 2.53 earned-run average since being acquired from San Diego on Aug. 2 for Ray Lankford.

He is 5-0 with a 1.10 ERA and three complete games in his last five starts.

Williams gave up a run-scoring single by Brian Giles and a two-run home run by Aramis Ramirez in the fourth as the Pirates went ahead, 3-2.

The Cardinals swept the series to improve to 14-3 against the Pirates this season.

Colorado 10, Milwaukee 0--John Thomson pitched Colorado’s second shutout by a starter at Coors Field this season and also had three hits, including a triple.

Thomson (3-5) gave up five hits and struck out a season-high nine in his second career shutout. Mike Hampton blanked the Mets at Coors in May.

Todd Helton had a double and became the first player in major league history to have 100 extra-base hits in consecutive seasons.

Cincinnati 5, Montreal 4--Dmitri Young and Adam Dunn hit eighth-inning homers and the Reds forestalled a record-setting home loss.

Vladimir Guerrero had three hits, including two doubles against Joey Hamilton, as the Expos took a 4-2 lead into the eighth and pushed the Reds to the verge of their 52nd home loss.

Young hit a one-out homer and Dunn hit a two-run drive barely over the wall in right field.

Outfielder Bubba Trammell and the San Diego Padres agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2004 season with a club option for 2005.