Eventful Split for Mets, Cardinals

Sunday was a long day for New York Met fans, who saw their team stage two ninth-inning rallies, a 500-foot home run damage the scoreboard and Mark McGwire become the first player with four consecutive 50 home run seasons. But in the end, they left Shea Stadium with their team no longer in first place.

That’s because the Mets’ rally in the second game against St. Louis fell short, and the 7-5 loss meant a split of the doubleheader and a half-game deficit behind Atlanta in the National League East.

McGwire hit two home runs in the first game, including the 502-foot blast that broke a lightbulb in the right-center-field scoreboard, to give him 50, one behind the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa.

“That’s the farthest I think I’ve ever seen a ball hit,” Met Manager Bobby Valentine said.

McGwire has 50 homers after 125 games for the second consecutive season.

But the Mets came from five runs down to defeat St. Louis, 8-7, on Edgardo Alfonzo’s run-scoring single in the ninth inning.

New York made it interesting in the second game too, scoring three times in the ninth and bringing the tying run to the plate.

In the opener, the Mets came back from a 6-1 deficit to tie it in the eighth on John Olerud’s grand slam and Mike Piazza’s 30th homer.

Atlanta 3, San Diego 2--Brian Jordan’s one-out single in the ninth inning drove in Gerald Williams from second for the winning run and the Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Padres at Atlanta.

Atlanta starter Terry Mulholland, acquired from the Cubs at the trade deadline, lasted eight innings, giving up six hits and two runs.

The Braves won for the 13th time in 17 games.

Cincinnati 4, Montreal 3--Sean Casey hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Reds won two of three against the Expos at Cincinnati. Montreal’s Vladimir Guerrero extended his hitting streak to 27 games, the longest in team history and third-longest in the majors this season.

Arizona 7, Pittsburgh 5--Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams and Erubiel Durazo hit consecutive homers in Arizona’s five-run first inning against Jason Schmidt, and the Diamondbacks and Omar Daal (13-6) withstood a four-run third to win at Pittsburgh. It was Daal’s 10th victory in his last 12 decisions.

Colorado 3, Chicago 2--Larry Walker hit his 33rd home run and the Rockies kept Sammy Sosa in the park for a victory at Chicago. Sosa, who hit two home runs Friday and Saturday at Wrigley Field, went one for three with a single.

Houston vs. Florida, rained out--The game scheduled between the Astros and Marlins was rained out at Miami. Because the teams do not meet again this season in Florida, the game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Friday at Houston.