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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DENVER (AP) – Tsuyoshi Shinjo
entered Monday night's game with five RBI on the season.
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| Shinjo |
After one game at Coors Field, he nearly doubled his total.
Shinjo drove in four runs, leading the New York Mets and young
right-hander Dicky Gonzalez to a 10-9 victory over the Colorado
Rockies.
Shinjo, only the second Japanese position player to sign a
contract with a major league team, highlighted a seven-run third
inning with a three-run double as the Mets took a 9-0 lead. He also
had a run-scoring single in the second.
"Most of the time, I am a pinch-hitter," said Shinjo, who
actually has started 19 of the Mets' 31 games this season. "You
get one at-bat and then you are done. With four at-bats, you feel
more at ease, you know you will get another chance. I was more
relaxed."
He made his three-run double sound like an accident.
"I was aiming at left-center field. The ball went to right. I
guess you could say I was lucky," Shinjo said.
Gonzalez (1-0), in his second major league start, pitched four
shutout innings before being tagged for five runs in the fifth.
The 22-year-old Gonzalez, who made his big league debut last
Tuesday after being called up from Triple-A Norfolk, went 5 1/3
innings, allowing five runs and 11 hits.
"My dream was to get my first win at home," Gonzalez said. "I
will settle for getting it here. I want to get another start. I
hope I can stay up."
Mike Piazza hit a solo homer in the ninth, his 10th of the year.
Todd Helton had four hits and three RBI for Colorado, including
a two-run homer in the ninth and a pair of doubles.
Colorado trailed 10-5 before pushing across four runs in the
ninth off Armando Benitez. Benitez struck out Brent Mayne for the
final out with a runner on first.
"Our guys battled back," Rockies manager Buddy Bell said,
"but when you dig yourself that kind of a hole at 9-0, it's awful
tough to come back."
Colorado outhit New York 17-14.
New York's Jay Payton went 3-for-3 but departed with a strained
right hamstring after beating out an infield single in the fifth.
"A 9-0 lead here is like 3-0," Mets manager Bobby Valentine
said. "Nine-to-nothing after three innings should be enough. But
hitters feel good at this park."
The Mets roughed up Brian Bohanon (1-4) in the second and third
innings. Over a span of 11 batters, they collected 10 hits,
including seven in a row to open the third.
"I found out in the third that Bo's elbow has been bothering
him for a while," Bell said. "He did not tell anybody. We won't
know the extent of that until (Tuesday), when he has an MRI."
With one out in the second, Robin Ventura walked and Payton
doubled. Shinjo followed with an RBI single and Rey Ordonez an RBI
double on which Shinjo was thrown out at the plate.
Benny Agbayani, who had two hits in the third, started the
seven-run inning with a single. Edgardo Alfonso also singled, and
Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile had run-scoring singles. Ventura
singled, loading the bases, and Payton hit a bloop RBI single to
left, chasing Bohanon.
Shinjo greeted John Wasdin with a three-run double down the
right-field line. With two outs, Agbayani added an RBI double.
The seven runs and eight hits represented season highs in an
inning for the Mets.
Bohanon went two-plus innings, allowing nine hits and eight
runs.
"My elbow never would loosen up," Bohanon said. "I put the
ball where I wanted to, but there just wasn't anything on it. They
didn't try to do too much. They singled me to death and ran me out
of the game."
Colorado erupted for five runs in the fifth, including RBI
doubles by Wasdin, Helton and Greg Norton. Wasdin's RBI was the
first of his career. Juan Pierre had a run-scoring single and Larry
Walker a sacrifice fly.
Colorado loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, chasing
Gonzalez, but Dennis Cook struck out Neifi Perez and Walker.
Game notes
Bohanon is 0-4 with a 14.88 ERA at Coors Field this season.
... Alfonzo, who tweaked his groin in his last at-bat on Sunday,
did not require treatment and was in the lineup Monday night. ...
LHP Al Leiter, eligible to come off the disabled list with a
strained throwing elbow, threw off a mound Sunday, will do so again
Tuesday and hopes to throw to hitters on Friday. ... Darryl
Hamilton and his wife, Ursaline, are the parents of a baby boy,
Donovan Quinn, who was born Sunday in Houston. Hamilton, on the DL
with a sore neck and an arthritic left big toe, is expected to
rejoin the team on Wednesday.
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RECAPS
Chi. White Sox 7
Texas 4
Philadelphia 5
Houston 0
Chicago Cubs 7
Milwaukee 6
St. Louis 7
Pittsburgh 0
NY Mets 10
Colorado 9
Cincinnati 5
Arizona 4
Los Angeles 1
Florida 0
San Francisco 6
Montreal 2
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