Vaughn Picks His Spot in Met Victory

With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, Met slugger Mo Vaughn turned to his teammates in the dugout and called his shot-- a single.

“He told us he had seen enough of these curveballs, he was just going to hit the ball up the middle,” New York Manager Bobby Valentine said.

Vaughn came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Then he sent the first pitch he saw from John Riedling back up the middle to give the Mets a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night at New York.

“You’re going to get your home runs,” Vaughn said. “But I want to get my average up where it belongs. And you do that by getting singles too. By staying in the middle of the field, you have a better chance of success.”

After Vaughn’s hit, Rey Ordonez ran home with his hands in the air as the screaming Merengue Night crowd of 46,466 made Shea Stadium shake.

Ordonez led off the ninth with a single. Pinch-hitter Marco Scutaro advanced him with a sacrifice bunt and Roberto Alomar was intentionally walked.

Timo Perez grounded into a fielder’s choice--avoiding the double play--and Mike Piazza walked to load the bases and bring up Vaughn.

Riedling (0-1) had no place to put Vaughn, who entered the game batting .278 with runners in scoring position.

The victory was the Mets’ ninth in 12 games and tied them with the Reds at 53-49 as they chased the NL’s wild card spot.

“There’s a long way to go,” Valentine said.

Met reliever Mark Guthrie (5-0), who extended his scoreless streak to 25 1/3 innings, hit Ken Griffey Jr. in the batting helmet with a pitch in the eighth.

The ball struck with an audible crack, and broke Griffey’s batting helmet. Trainers rushed onto the field, helped Griffey to his feet, and he went to first base as fans cheered.

Guthrie came to the plate to check on Griffey, and later phoned the Reds’ clubhouse to check on Junior, who said after the game that he was fine.

“Guthrie’s not that kind of a pitcher,” Griffey said.

Griffey, who had been booed before each of his at-bats, was later caught in a rundown after Guthrie’s pickoff throw to end the inning.

Alomar began the night with his 2,500th career hit in the first inning and went three for three.

Arizona 12, San Diego 0--Randy Johnson returned to form against the Padres, pitching four-hit ball for seven innings at Phoenix as the Diamondbacks won their fifth in a row.

Johnson (14-4) was coming off his worst game of the season--an eight-hit, eight-run, six-walk performance Sunday in which he lasted only five innings in the Padres’ 11-9 victory.

Johnson had been 8-0 lifetime before that loss. But this time he struck out eight and walked one.

St. Louis 8, Chicago 4--Jim Edmonds, Tino Martinez and Eduardo Perez all homered, powering the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Chuck Finley, acquired last week in a trade with Cleveland, won in his Busch Stadium debut before the largest crowd of the season at 48,730. Edgar Renteria got two hits to reach 1,000 in his career.

Finley (2-0) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking none.

Philadelphia 3, Atlanta 2--Gary Sheffield grounded out with the bases loaded to end the game as the Phillies won at Atlanta.

The Phillies, playing a night game for the first time in a week, won their fourth in a row. It’s their longest streak since June 7-10, when they also won four in a row during interleague play.

After the Braves loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth inning against Jose Mesa, Sheffield hit an easy grounder. Mesa held on for his 28th save in 34 chances.

Houston 4, Pittsburgh 3--Julio Lugo hit a game-winning single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to bail out Astro closer Billy Wagner at Houston.

After Wagner (3-2) gave up a game-tying homer to Aramis Ramirez in the ninth, the Astros won it in the bottom half to reach .500 for the first time since May 18.

Montreal 6, Florida 5--Jose Vidro hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the Expos at Montreal.

After right fielder Vladimir Guerrero threw out Tim Raines at the plate to end the top of the 10th, Vidro won it with his 11th homer.

Milwaukee 10, Colorado 3--Mark Loretta hit his career first grand slam and Ben Sheets won for the second time in 15 starts as the Brewers won at Milwaukee.

Loretta connected for the slam in the third inning off Denny Stark (6-2) for his first homer since Aug. 22, 2001. It followed singles by Richie Sexson and Matt Stairs and a walk to Jose Hernandez, giving Sheets (5-12) a 6-0 lead.