Delgado, Santana help Mets split key double-header
Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz (L) heads for the dugout after New York Mets batter Carlos Delgado struck out with a runner on base to end the eighth inning of their MLB National League baseball game in New York September 7, 2008.
Credit: Reuters/Ray Stubblebine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Carlos Delgado homered twice and drove in four runs to help the New York Mets split a key double-header with the Philadelphia Phillies and maintain a two-game lead in the National League East on Sunday.
The Mets, who benefited from Johan Santana's solid pitching, needed the 6-3 victory to avoid being tied for the top spot by the Phillies, who won the first game 6-2.
Delgado hit solo homers in the third and fifth innings and drove in two other runs with a first-inning single that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead. He went three for four for the game.
"We think we're as good as anybody," Delgado told reporters. "We think we're the team to beat."
The Mets blew a seven-game lead to lose the divisional title to the Phillies last year, but Delgado said things were different this season.
"We think what happened last year is not going to happen again and we're very confident that we can get this done.
"There's definitely a different atmosphere here, a different feeling."
The left-handed Santana (13-7) struck out six in seven-plus innings. He gave up five hits and two runs.
In the first game, Jamie Moyer shut out the Mets for seven innings, yielding only two hits. New York did not score until the eighth inning when it pushed across two runs.
The Phillies roughed up Mets starter Pedro Martinez, scoring six runs off seven hits in four innings.
Greg Dobbs delivered a three-run homer to right-centre in the fourth inning to give Philadelphia a 5-0 lead. The Phillies added another run on a Jimmy Rollins' RBI double later in the inning.
Philadelphia's first two runs came in the second inning on Matt Stairs' sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Carlos Ruiz.
(Writing by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
