| Aaron Heilman |
Mike Piazza drove in three runs for the Mets, who won their fifth straight.
In another National League contest, Atlanta's Raul Mondesi and Rafael Furcal each hit two home runs to lift the Braves to an 11-4 trouncing of the Phillies in Philadelphia.
San Francisco's Pedro Feliz hit a grand slam in the Giants' 13-6 blasting of the Colorado Rockies in Denver. In Pittsburgh, the Pirates got by the Chicago Cubs, 8-5. The Houston Astros thumped the Reds, 11-2, in Cincinnati. The St. Louis Cardinals tripped up the Brewers in Milwaukee, 3-0. And Los Angeles pitcher Derek Lowe gave up just three hits in the Dodgers' 4-0 win over the visiting San Diego Padres.
In the American League, Johan Santana, last year's Cy Young Award winner, as the league's best pitcher, led the Minnesota Twins to their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Indians 3-2 in Cleveland. Santana now has a 16-game win streak, extending back into last season.
In Boston, David Ortiz crushed a grand slam homer for the Red Sox in a 10-0 crunching of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
The Baltimore Orioles used a seven-run sixth inning to sink the visiting New York Yankees, 8-1. The Texas Rangers doubled the visiting Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2, and the White Sox downed the Seattle Mariners, 6-4, in Chicago. The Kansas City Royals gave up five runs in the first inning to the visiting Detroit Tigers, but rallied to win, 6-5. And the Los Angeles Angels tripped up the Athletics, 6-1, in Oakland.
Some information for this report provided by AP.