Sunday, September 12, 1999
Mets 6, Dodgers 2
BY JOHN NADEL
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES — Many in the crowd of 47,747 at Dodger Stadium cheered Mike Piazza. And he delivered.
Piazza homered with a runner on base for the second time in three games against his former team, and tied a career high with four hits as the New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 Saturday night.
Roger Cedeno, another ex-Dodger, hit a two-run single in the sixth to snap a 2-2 tie as the Mets won for the sixth time in eight games to move within three games of the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves.
The Mets also maintained their 21/2-game lead over Cincinnati in the wild-card race.
The Braves lost 3-2 at San Francisco, while the Reds beat Florida 12-4.
“He likes this cool weather,” Mets manager Bobby Valentine said of Piazza. “He's playing great because he is great. I've seen it all season.”
Piazza, who had five exceptional years with the Dodgers before being traded to Florida on May 15, 1998, has collected four hits in a game 18 times, most recently at Houston on Sept. 1.
Piazza, traded to the Mets a week after being dealt to Florida, raised his average to .319 with 35 homers and 110 RBIs.
“It's kind of just a flattering reaction,” Piazza said of the crowd response. “I don't know what to say. It seems like every time I come up, there's a commotion.
“Tonight was a good night. I was able to hit the ball the other way, which I can do. I had some really good swings, I was swinging at strikes. I was able to fight off some tough pitches.”
Piazza, whose two-run homer Thursday night helped New York beat the Dodgers 3-1, hit a full-count pitch from Ismael Valdes (9-14) over the right-center field fence in the third to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.
He also walked in the first and singled in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings. His sixth-inning single triggered a decisive four-run rally that made a winner of Masato Yoshii, who won his fourth straight decision.
Rey Ordonez followed Cedeno's hit with another two-run single to put the Mets ahead 6-2 and knock out Valdes, who lost for the seventh time in eight decisions.
“When he gets in a jam, he hasn't been able to get out of them like he can,” Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said of Valdes. “But we didn't help him with our offense.”
The loss was the fifth in six games for the Dodgers following a stretch where they won 12 of 16.
Yoshii (11-8) pitched seven innings and allowed two runs and six hits before being relieved by Pat Mahomes to start the eighth.
Yoshii, who walked two and struck out six, has allowed only 29 hits and nine runs, eight earned, over 41 1-3 innings in his last six starts.
“Masato Yoshii pitched without his good stuff for four innings,” Valentine said. “When they tied the score, he found his stuff. The last three innings, he was a fine pitcher.”
Yoshii said his forkball got better as the game went on.
“I had a terrible preparation in the bullpen,” Yoshii said through an interpreter. “I didn't know what was going to happen. After the third inning, (the forkball) got better.”
The Dodgers scored their first run in the bottom of the third on Eric Young's infield out, and tied the game in the fourth when Todd Hundley hit his 22nd homer and first against the Mets, who traded him to Los Angeles last December in the deal involving Cedeno.
Valdes went five-plus innings and gave up six runs and eight hits while walking five and striking out one.
NOTES: The Mets played errorless ball, and have committed just 63 in their 143 games — the fewest in baseball. The Minnesota Twins, with 78, have committed the second-fewest. The Dodgers have made 114 errors in their 142 games. ... Mets center fielder Darryl Hamilton robbed Gary Sheffield in the first, making a leaping catch just before ramming into the right-center field fence. Hamilton left the game in the second with a bruised left knee, and is day-to-day. He said he'll probably miss the next couple of games. ... Mets left fielder Rickey Henderson, baseball's all-time leading base stealer, stole second and third in the first, giving him 35 steals this season and 1,332 in his career. ... Henderson tried to steal second in the third, but was thrown out by Hundley, who has thrown out only 16 of 118 base stealers this season. ... Dodgers shortstop Mark Grudzielanek had two hits, giving him 30 hits in his last 75 at-bats (.400). ... Mets starters have a 43-16 record in the team's last 86 games.
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