Valent Hits for the Cycle to Lead Mets Past Expos

Eric Valent got a rare start for the New York Mets and hit his way into the club’s record books.

He became the eighth player in team history to hit for the cycle, and Mike Cameron homered twice to lead the Mets to a 10-1 victory over the Montreal Expos on Thursday in front of 20,042 -- the second-biggest crowd at Olympic Stadium this season.

Valent went 4 for 4 with a walk, drove in three runs and scored three times in becoming the fourth player in the majors this season to hit a single, double, triple and home run in a game. He joined Milwaukee’s Chad Moeller, Pittsburgh’s Daryle Ward and Philadelphia’s David Bell.

Valent, a former UCLA star, played left field in place of Cliff Floyd. He singled after Cameron’s two-run homer off Rocky Biddle in the second, and doubled after Cameron’s solo shot gave the Mets a 5-0 lead in the third.

He hit a two-run homer in the fifth. His run-scoring triple in the seventh completed the Mets’ first cycle since John Olerud did it on Sept. 11, 1997 -- also against the Expos.

San Diego 7, San Francisco 4 -- Phil Nevin singled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and the Padres overcame Barry Bonds’ 684th career home run.

The Padres won three in the four-game series at San Diego and remain 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Dodgers in the West Division.

San Diego is 10-3 this season against the third-place Giants, who fell 4 1/2 games behind.

Arizona 6, Houston 4 -- Lance Cormier won the first game of his major league career, and Shea Hillenbrand hit a two-run homer at Houston to help the Diamondbacks win their second game since the All-Star break. Cormier (1-2), making his third start, went six innings and yielded three runs and eight hits.

Florida 10, Philadelphia 1 -- Alex Gonzalez hit his first grand slam and the Marlins swept the Phillies at home for the fourth time in a row. It was the Phillies’ 14th consecutive loss in Miami, including seven this season.

The Marlins scored seven times in the third inning against Paul Abbott (1-5), capped by Gonzalez’s homer.

Chicago 4, Milwaukee 0 -- Carlos Zambrano gave up four hits over eight innings and Sammy Sosa homered to lead the Cubs at Milwaukee.

Zambrano (10-6) walked two and struck out eight. He needed 31 pitches to get out of the first inning, but struck out Geoff Jenkins, Russell Branyan and Lyle Overbay with men on second and third.

Atlanta 3, Pittsburgh 2 -- Rafael Furcal made up for two errors with a go-ahead single during a two-run, ninth-inning rally against closer Jose Mesa at Pittsburgh. The Braves won their third in the four-game series, sixth in seven games overall and 15th in 20. Mesa (2-1) had converted 29 of 30 save opportunities.