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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Mets took care of business early,
getting their offense and ace pitcher tuned up for the playoffs.
Jay Payton's first career grand slam highlighted a six-run first
inning as the New York Mets cruised to an 11-2 victory over the
Montreal Expos on Friday night.
Payton drove in a career-high four runs, Robin Ventura had his
24th home run and three RBI, and Mike Hampton allowed three hits
in five strong innings to give the NL wild-card Mets their third
straight win and sixth in seven games.
"Mike got a good workout in, and the guys swung the bats real
well," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "We just want to get
through this where we have good health, both physically and
mentally. That's important."
The Mets sent nine to the plate in the first, giving Hampton
(15-10) a six-run cushion and sending the Expos to their seventh
loss in a row.
Hampton was on cruise control, retiring his last eight batters
before leaving after the fifth inning. Hampton, the Mets' possible
Game 1 starter against San Francisco or St. Louis in the first
round of the NL playoffs next Wednesday, struck out four and walked
one.
"The first couple of innings were pretty long," said Hampton,
who threw just 64 pitches on a cool night at Shea Stadium. "It
took me a while to get loose and get warmed up, but I felt a lot
more comfortable in my last two innings."
Mike Thurman (4-9) got into trouble early.
Timo Perez led off with a bloop single out of Thurman's reach
and third baseman Mike Mordecai couldn't make a play. Thurman then
walked Darryl Hamilton, Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza to force in
a run. Ventura made it 2-0 with a base hit that went off second
baseman Jose Vidro's glove.
"The first hit of the game was one of those things, and it just
sort of snowballed from there," Thurman said. "I didn't seem to
be able to get anybody out."
Payton followed with the Mets' team record-tying eighth grand
slam of the season. Payton hit a 2-1 fastball into the back of the
Expos bullpen in left field to give the Mets a 6-0 lead.
"The last time I faced these guys, they threw me a lot of
breaking balls, so I was thinking I might get a fastball," Payton
said. "I was just looking for something over the middle of the
plate, and fortunately it was something I could drive."
The Mets, who had 11 hits and used 16 of 19 available position
players, added four runs in the second on RBI singles by
Alfonzo and Piazza, and a two-run homer by Ventura off Julio
Santana.
"A lot of runs scored in the first two innings," Expos manager
Felipe Alou said. "It's real tough when that happens. And
(Thurman) didn't throw very well, I didn't think."
Thurman, winless in six starts, lasted just one-plus inning and
allowed eight runs, six hits and three walks.
"No sense in trying to analyze it," Thurman said. "The
season's over for me. There's no reason to try to figure it out
now. It was bad, and that's all I can say."
The Expos got a run in the seventh when Vidro hit a leadoff
double against John Franco and went to third on Orlando Cabrera's
fly to center. Vidro scored when third baseman Jorge Velandia
bobbled Michael Barrett's grounder and threw high to Matt Franco,
pulling him off first base for an error to make it 10-1.
The Mets got their final run in the seventh when Joe McEwing
scored on Vidro's error while trying to complete a double play.
The Expos added a run in the eighth when Terry Jones hit a
leadoff triple, and Fernando Seguignol drove him in with a
groundout to shortstop.
Game notes
Valentine and GM Steve Phillips both said the team had not
made final decisions on the rotation or the 25-man roster for the
playoffs. Phillips, Valentine and Mets coaches met for about an
hour Friday, and will meet again within the next three days to make
final decisions. ... Only Derek Bell and Benny Agbayani, both
recovering from injuries, and Todd Pratt did not play for the Mets.
... The Mets also hit eight grand slams last season. ... The Expos
have given up an NL-record 12 grand slams this season.
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