Mets rally past Cubs 7-6, keep playoff hopes alive

[September 26, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Carlos Beltran singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning and the New York Mets rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6 on Thursday night for a huge win that halted their late-season slide.

After trailing by three runs in the seventh, New York fought back in the rain to move within one game of NL East-leading Philadelphia with three to play. The Mets also stayed tied atop the wild-card race with Milwaukee, which beat Pittsburgh 5-1 in 10 innings.

Rich Harden pitched six solid innings in his final playoff tuneup for the NL Central champions and lightly used rookie Micah Hoffpauir went 5-for-5 with five RBIs and his first two major league homers -- including a tiebreaking shot in the seventh off Ricardo Rincon that gave Chicago a 6-3 lead.

But the Cubs, resting most of their stars, couldn't hold on.

Pitching what could be his final game for the Mets, Pedro Martinez left to a warm ovation with the score tied 3-all in the seventh. He pointed to the crowd and raised his first in the air.

After he was gone, New York tied it in the eighth on big hits by a pair of unlikely players: spare part Ramon Martinez and third-string catcher Robinson Cancel.

Jose Reyes singled off Kevin Hart (2-2) to start the ninth and swiped second for his third steal of the game as David Wright fanned for the second out. Carlos Delgado was intentionally walked and Beltran lined a 2-0 pitch off the glove of a diving Hoffpauir at first base.

The ball trickled down the right-field line as Reyes scored easily, giving the Mets their second victory in six games since they grabbed the division lead with a victory last Friday at Atlanta.

Beltran was mobbed by soaked teammates near first base, a sigh of relief -- for one night, at least -- as New York tries to avoid its second consecutive September collapse.

Cancel doubled leading off the seventh and scored on Reyes' grounder. Then, with two outs and none on in the eighth, New York hit four straight singles to tie it.

Ramon Martinez, making his first start for the Mets after a helpful performance off the bench Wednesday, cut it to 6-5 with a single. Cancel, added to the lineup because of Brian Schneider's aching back, lined a 1-2 pitch to right off Bob Howry.

Kosuke Fukudome's strong throw home was up the line but it arrived ahead of Ryan Church, who danced around catcher Koyie Hill on the wet dirt. With both players struggling to maintain their footing, Church slipped to the ground, then made a desperate lunge and touched the plate with his hand for the tying run.

Hill threw his arms up in disbelief and the crowd responded with a thunderous roar. Shea Stadium shook as fans jumped up and down.

Joe Smith (6-3) escaped a jam in the top of the ninth, and the Mets rebounded from a demoralizing, 10-inning loss Wednesday night.

[Associated Press; By MIKE FITZPATRICK]

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