Mets win in 10 innings for third straight victory
PHILADELPHIA -- Don't tell Terry Collins his team has quit on the season.
Kelly Shoppach hit a two-run homer during a four-run outburst in the 10th inning to lead the New York Mets to a 9-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.
Shoppach had hit an RBI double with two outs in the eighth inning off Antonio Bastardo to tie it at 5-5. He then homered off B.J. Rosenberg (0-2) in the 10th after Ike Davis hit a tiebreaking RBI double to score David Wright, who had a bloop single to start the inning.
Mike Baxter hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Mets, who have won three straight games.
"This team has been accused of folding it up," said Collins, the Mets' second-year manager. "I disagree with that. When you don't hit, it looks like you don't care. They're playing hard. There's guys fighting for jobs, fighting for careers."
Shoppach, acquired in a trade with Boston two weeks ago, has been a pleasant addition for the Mets. His biggest adjustment has been working with new pitchers.
"I like to think it's going well," Shoppach said. "I've been working hard trying to get to know these guys, understand their personalities, and learn what they do well."
Collins is impressed.
"He's handled the pitching staff very well," Collins said. "There's things he does behind the plate I like a lot. And you saw when he hits them, they go a long way."
Ryan Howard hit his 11th career grand slam and Chase Utley had a solo homer, but the Phillies saw their winning streak end at four games. They remained 10 games behind St. Louis in the race for the second wild-card spot in the NL.
Bobby Parnell (4-3) earned the win with two scoreless relief innings.
Mets starter Chris Young gave up five runs on just four hits in 5 1/3 innings.
"I dug us a hole and the guys picked me up," Young said.
Phillies starter Vance Worley struggled again. He gave up four runs and nine hits before getting chased with one out in the fifth. Worley has a 5.80 ERA in 11 starts since July 3.
"I'm tired of losing and I need to do a better job," Worley said.
Worley, who has an elbow issue, could be shut down at some point.
"There are things we can do, but at the same time, until we sit down, discuss it and find out exactly where we want to go, I don't know yet," manager Charlie Manuel said. "Really. That's something we feel like if we discuss and change it, we can do that."
Once the Mets tied it in the fifth, the Phillies reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning on Utley's solo shot to right field.
Young was hurt by wildness in the first. He loaded the bases without allowing a hit. Jimmy Rollins walked, Kevin Frandsen was hit by a pitch and Utley walked. Howard then smoked a shot over the right-center field fence to give the Phillies a 4-1 lead.
Baxter drilled his second career homer to deep right to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the fourth.
Ruben Tejada started the fifth with a ground-rule double, Daniel Murphy singled and Wright hit a sacrifice fly to tie it at 4-4.
The Mets started the game with three straight singles by Tejada, Murphy and Wright. Tejada scored on Wright's hit to left for a 1-0 lead. Plate umpire Mike Estabrook first called Tejada out at home, but changed his call when he saw that catcher Erik Kratz dropped the ball and made the tag with an empty glove.
Notes: The Uganda Little League team was in attendance at Citizens Bank Park and received a standing ovation when shown on the video screen before the third inning. They attended the game as guests of Rollins. ... Howard is the franchise leader in grand slams. ... The crowd of 41,227 was the lowest at Citizens Bank Park this season. ... The Mets won the first two series in Philadelphia, including a sweep May 7-9. ... The Phillies had just one other grand slam this season, hit by Hector Luna in his first official at-bat with the team. ... Murphy was 4-for-44 before his single in the first, which was the first of three hits. ... Cole Hamels goes for his 15th win Wednesday night against Matt Harvey (2-3) in the middle game of the series
