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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- For five innings Friday night, Al Leiter pitched
hitless ball against the St. Louis Cardinals. Equipped with his
best stuff of the season, he began thinking this might be the time
for a little history.
|  | | Al Leiter ended a three-game losing streak Friday, improving his record to 10-4. |
"I know a no-hitter becomes reality after seven," said Leiter,
who pitched one for Florida in 1997. "But knowing there's never
been a no-hitter here, I was thinking about it."
Not manager Bobby Valentine, though. "That's a pretty good hitting team over there," he said.
"They've got seven guys hitting .300."
So the Mets settled for a 3-2 victory as Leiter ended his
three-game losing streak with seven innings of three-hit ball.
Turk Wendell bailed New York out of a tight jam in the eighth
with a pickoff of Jim Edmonds and Armando Benitez pitched the ninth
for his 24th save of the season.
It was the Mets' fourth straight victory and their fourth
straight win against the Cardinals, leaders of the NL Central.
The win came on a busy trading day for Mets general manager
Steve Phillips. He acquired shortstop Mike Bordick from Baltimore
for shortstop Melvin Mora and three minor leaguers, then got
reliever Rick White and outfielder Bubba Trammell from Tampa Bay
for outfielder Jason Tyner and pitcher Paul Wilson.
Leiter (11-4), retired 15 of the first 16 batters and 11 in a
row over one stretch. He struck out eight and walked two in seven
innings, besting Pat Hentgen (9-8).
Reliever John Franco gave up a pair of singles in the eighth to
bring on Wendell, who picked Edmonds off first base.
"You've only got so many outs left," manager Tony La Russa
said. "That's a big play. He's got a real quick move and it threw
Jim off. It's a mistake. You can't get picked off in that
situation. He knows it."
The Cardinals still got a run on third baseman Lenny Harris'
fourth error in two days before Wendell struck out Eric Davis to
end the inning and tiurned the game over to Benitez.
Hentgen gave up all three Mets runs in the second inning.
Mike Piazza opened with a single and Todd Zeile walked. Benny
Agbayani's double off the wall in right center-field scored Piazza.
Then Zeile scored on Jay Payton's grounder to second with Agbayani
taking third on the play.
Kurt Abbott followed with a fly ball to center field. Agbayani
tagged up and scored when catcher Mike Matheny dropped Edmonds'
throw for an error.
The Cardinals nicked Leiter for a run in the sixth. Matheny led
off with a single, St. Louis' first hit of the game, and moved up
on a sacrifice by Hentgen. Fernando Vina also bunted, moving
Matheny to third. Then Placido Polanco delivered the run with a
two-out single to center. Leiter ended the rally by getting Edmonds
on a line drive to left.
In the seventh, St. Louis loaded the bases with one out on a
single by Davis, a walk to Ray Lankford and an error by Abbott.
Leiter struck out Matheny and got pinch-hitter Craig Paquette on a
soft liner to second.
"I knew what I had to do," Leiter said. "I was not giving in.
If I walk the guy, then I walk him. I was going to stay
aggressive."
The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the
seventh. But reliever Matt Morris struck out Zeile and tossed
Agbayani's broken-bat dribbler to Matheny for a force at the plate
and the final out of the inning.
Game notes
The Mets are 15-5 in games started by Leiter. ... The
Cardinals, completing a stretch of 17 of 20 games on the road since
the All-Star break with visits to New York and Montreal, did not
check into their Manhattan hotel until 5 a.m. ... Mets 3B Robin
Ventura is expected to come off the DL (bruised right rotator cuff)
for Saturday's game. ... The Mets expect Bordick, White and
Trammell to report Saturday.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
NY Mets Clubhouse
Mets don't fall short, trade for Orioles' Bordick
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Al Leiter liked the idea of flirting with a no-hitter.
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