TNT Sports
Mets avenge NLCS loss
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Published 05/04/2007 at 10:03 GMT+1
Carlos Beltran blasted a pair of home runs and John Maine pitched one-hit ball over seven innings as the New York Mets swept the St Louis Cardinals with a 10-0 road win.
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Image credit: TNT Sports
Beltran smacked a two-run homer to right field in the sixth inning to break a scoreless game, then hit a solo shot in the seventh.
The Mets rapped six St Louis pitchers for 12 hits as they dominated the World Series champions, who could only muster two hits.
The Cardinals beat the Mets 4-3 in last year's National League Championship Series on their way to the World Series title.
Mets manager Willie Randolph tried to downplay the significance of the sweep after his team had won the first two games in the season opening series 6-1 and 4-1.
"Nothing you do this early has any lasting effect," Randolph told reporters after the game.
"This was about us getting off good. We knew who we were playing... and the only team we thought about was the New York Mets."
Maine was masterful on the mound, striking out six and walking two in seven innings of work.
Scott Rolen got the only hit off him, singling to center in the bottom of the fifth.
Chris Duncan had the Cardinals's other hit, getting a double off Aaron Sele in the ninth inning after the Mets had scored in bunches.
The visitors registered three runs in the sixth inning behind Beltran's homer, then added two more in the seventh before scoring five times in the eighth.
National League Round-up
Scott Thorman's 11th inning home run gave the Atlanta Braves a 3-2 road victory over Philadelphia their second-straight extra-inning win against the Phillies.
Dmitri Young's based loaded single highlighted a three-run ninth inning as the Washington Nationals topped the visiting Florida Marlins 7-6.
The Colorado Rockies scored seven times in the eighth innings for an 11-4 home win over the Arizona Diamondbacks as Rodrigo Lopez, who lost 18 games last season, got the victory.
American League round-up
Curtis Granderson's grand-slam homer powered an eight-run third inning as the Detroit Tigers held off the Toronto Blue Jays 10-9 on Wednesday.
The American League champions built a 9-0 lead before the Blue Jays charged back with seven runs of their own in the eighth inning to pull within one run on a cold, windy day.
Detroit outfielder Magglio Ordonez then made a running catch of Troy Glaus's fly ball to right to end the inning as the Blue Jays stranded the tying run at third base.
"Obviously that was the play of the game, the play that saved it," Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters.
"He made a heck of a play."
Granderson, in addition to his grand slam, provided what proved to be the winning run when he tripled home Brandon Inge in the seventh inning for a 10-2 Tigers lead.
The grand slam was Granderson's first and he wondered if the ball would clear the fence.
"I didn't think I hit it high enough," he told reporters.
"I thought it would be extra bases, but I was not sure. Finally I got to touch home plate."
Detroit, in levelling its record at 1-1, rocked Toronto starting pitcher A.J. Burnett for six runs in two-plus innings. The Tigers then scored three more runs off Shaun Marcum.
Toronto roared back in the eighth on Jason Smith's three-run triple and Vernon Well's two-run double before Ordonez ended the threat with his catch.
"Worst conditions I have ever seen," Ordonez told reporters after the wind-swept game.
"I don't know how I caught that ball," he added.
"Today was the first time I was scared in right field."
The Los Angeles Angels won their third straight with a 5-3 home victory over the Texas Rangers as Gary Matthews Jr.'s leaping catch denied Michael Young a first-inning home run.
Josh Beckett allowed only two hits over five innings as the Boston Red Sox got their first victory of the season, a 7-1 road win at Kansas City.
Ramon Oritz scattered five hits over seven innings as the Minnesota Twins swept the visiting Baltimore Orioles 7-2 on a five-run third inning.
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