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Friday, Oct. 8 8:00pm ET
Piazza-less Mets roll past Diamondbacks | |||||||||
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- Minus Mike Piazza, the New York Mets made up for his potent bat with John Olerud. And Rickey Henderson. And Benny Agbayani. The Mets overcame the absence of their cleanup hitter, with Olerud driving in three runs and sparking a big sixth inning for a 9-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks and a 2-1 lead in the NL division series.
Now, New York gets its chance to advance to the next round Saturday afternoon in Game 4, with or without Piazza. Al Leiter, who pitched a shutout in the wild-card playoff against Cincinnati, starts for the Mets against Brian Anderson as the Mets try to finish off the best-of-5 series. Henderson had three hits, including an RBI single, and stole his Division Series-record sixth base of the series for the Mets. Agbayani, batting cleanup for the first time in his major league career, added two hits and Pratt drew two walks and scored a run.
Omar Daal beat Reed twice in the regular season, but could not duplicate that success Friday. Agbayani led off the second with a single and a two-out walk to Pratt set up an RBI single by Rey Ordonez. The Mets made it 3-0 in the third on Olerud's RBI single and a run-scoring grounder by Robin Ventura. Arizona had a chance to turn an inning-ending double play on Ventura's ball, but shortstop Andy Fox overthrew Daal covering first base. Daal pounded his hand on the dirt as the ball sailed out of play. Ward batted for Daal and homered in the fifth. That was the lone mistake by Reed, who allowed four hits. "Our backs were against the wall just to get into the playoffs, so we're relaxed," Reed said. "I'm just glad Al Leiter's on the mound, he's played so well in the big games." Olerud struck out with the bases loaded to end the fourth, then the Mets put it away in the sixth against Darren Holmes and Plesac. Walks to Pratt and pinch-hitter Bobby Bonilla set up Henderson's RBI single, and Plesac allowed run-scoring hits by Olerud, Roger Cedeno and Hamilton. Despite the loss, the Diamondbacks were not daunted. "The pressure is on them," Arizona center fielder Steve Finley said. "If we win tomorrow, we're going home and they have to face Randy Johnson." Game notesPlesac pitched 822 games in regular-season play before making the postseason. Mets reliever John Franco and Plesac ranked 1-2 among active players without postseason appearances. ... Ordonez, who closed the regular season with a major league-record 100 straight errorless games by a shortstop, made the play of the night. Skidding into the hole, the Gold Glover grabbed Matt Williams' grounder and threw him out leading off the sixth. ... Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax watched from a box near the Mets' first-base dugout. In the last couple of years, he has offered pitching tips to Leiter. ... Reed threw a wild pitch in the first. It was just his third wild pitch in 837 innings in the majors. ... The Diamondbacks swept a three-game series at Shea in late May. ... A conductor on the No. 7 subway train made this announcement: "Next stop, Shea Stadium, home of the 1999 world champion Mets." ... In the previous postseason action at Shea, Kirk Gibson homered as Los Angeles beat the Mets 7-4 in Game 5 of the NLCS on Oct. 10, 1988. Lenny Dykstra homered for New York. Orel Hershiser, who played for those Dodgers, pitched the ninth inning Friday night for the Mets. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Arizona Clubhouse NY Mets Clubhouse Valentine comments stir controversy
RECAPS Atlanta 5 Houston 3
NY Mets 9 AUDIO/VIDEO   John Olerud believes his teammates stepped up.wav: 151 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Rick Reed says the Mets delt with the regular season pressure.wav: 88 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Mike Piazza calls his injury "frustrating."wav: 137 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6   | |||||||||
