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NEW YORK (AP) -- Rickey Henderson loved hearing the boos so much that he gave the fans in the left-field bleachers a present: a first-inning home-run ball. "I accept it as respect," Henderson said Tuesday night after extending a major league record with his 79th homer leading off a game, starting the San Diego Padres to a 5-2 victory over the New York Mets. Henderson, released by the Mets last year after clashing with manager Bobby Valentine, connected on Glendon Rusch's second pitch of the game, sparking a four-run first that sent the defending NL champions to their seventh loss in eight games. He milked the moment, slowing down after he rounded third and walking home at a pace slower than most New Yorkers cross the street. Henderson heard the reaction from Mets' fans, angered by his lackadaisical play last year. "You're trying to boo Rickey to get his attention," he said. "You're paying attention to me. You're talking to me." He remembered back to something Willie Mays told him in 1991, when Henderson was booed around the AL after winning the Most Valuable Player award. "I was getting upset," Henderson recalled. "He pulled me over to the side and said, 'That's out of respect.' " Henderson's homer, coming a night after New York's Rick Reed beat Bobby Jones 1-0, was his first starting a game since last May 26 at Tampa Bay. Rusch (2-3) came in with a 0.00 ERA at home in three games and 21 innings but pitched poorly for the fourth time in his last five starts overall. He allowed hits to five of his first six batters, including a two-run double by former Met Bubba Trammell and an RBI single by Ben Davis. "It was a really rough inning. I didn't make any good pitches," Rusch said. In all, Rusch gave up four runs, seven hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings and throwing just 35 of 68 pitches for strikes. He has allowed 20 runs in his last 21 2/3 innings, his season ERA rising from 2.65 to 5.82. "It was just command of his fastball," Valentine said. "He's not throwing it on both sides of the plate for strikes. He's got to do that." Adam Eaton (5-2), using some nasty offspeed pitches to get out of trouble, won his third consecutive decision, allowing two runs and five hits in 7 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts. The key was escaping a two-on jam in the first. "He had good stuff. Fastballs, mostly 93, 94 (mph)," the Mets' Todd Zeile said. "He got faster as the game went on. He short-armed the ball. It's hard to pick up." When Henderson homered, Eaton was still strolling in from the left-field bullpen. "It's awesome!" he said. He then turned to Jones. "Wouldn't you like to have had one of those?" he said. Tom Davey and Trevor Hoffman finished with perfect relief, with Hoffman getting three outs for his sixth save in seven chances. San Diego, which stopped a three-game losing streak, won for the fifth time in its last six road games. The Padres, last in the NL West, are 10-7 on the road but just 9-13 at home. New York, last in the NL East, got its runs in the second on an RBI single by Robin Ventura and an RBI grounder by Tsuyoshi Shinjo. Phil Nevin dived to stop Shinjo's grounder to third and while grasping the ball in the dirt with his bare hand, slapped his glove on the base to force out Ventura. Nevin, who went 3-for-5, added an RBI single in the eighth off Dennis Cook. With just five hits, New York (15-24) watched its batting average sink to .243. "We're better hitters than what we've shown, and we'll hit better," Valentine said. "I've seen it like this before. When we break out, we break out big and it lasts for a long time. I don't want to keep waiting for it top happen. Tomorrow's as good a day as any, as far as I'm concerned." Game notesSan Diego had been 0-6 on Wednesdays. ... Trammell made a nice sliding catch on Shinjo's blooper to right in the sixth. ... Shinjo threw out Davis at the plate in the third when he tried to score from second on Donaldo Mendez's single to right. ... Mets pitchers struck out a season-high 13. ... San Diego stranded 12 runners. ... Darren Bragg, brought up from the minors by the Mets earlier in the day, doubled in his first major league at-bat since last year but wound up 1-for-4.  Send this story to a friend
| RECAPS Baltimore 3 Detroit 2
San Diego 5
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