Sunday, April 29, 2001
[ MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ]
ST. LOUIS >> Getting feisty worked for the New York Mets, who ended a four-game losing streak after reliever Turk Wendell and manager Bobby Valentine got ejected yesterday. Agbayani’s RBI single
gives Mets win in 11Associated Press
Albert Pujols tied a major league rookie record with his eighth home run this month, but Benny Agbayani singled home the go-ahead run in the 11th inning to give the Mets a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
"It feels a little better than losing," Valentine said. "I'd like to feel like this more often."
Wendell was booted for throwing behind Mike Matheny three pitches after giving up a tiebreaking homer to J.D. Drew in the seventh.
"It's 1-and-1, why would I throw at him?" Wendell said. "When (Rick) Ankiel's out there and throws the ball everywhere, why not throw him out?"
Valentine was kicked out after protesting that St. Louis reliever Mike James (1-2) should have been ejected for hitting Todd Zeile in his lower back in the 11th. There was one out and a man on third at the time.
"It's a cheap trick," Valentine said. "It's the easiest time to hit a guy. How ironic is it that the guy who didn't hit anybody got thrown out?"
It was the second straight loss in extra innings for James.
Desi Relaford singled off James to start the 11th, stole second and took third on a groundout by Mike Piazza. James then hit Zeile, causing a protracted argument from Valentine and bringing several Mets to the top step of the dugout.
Agbayani, who had been hitless in his first five at-bats, followed with a single.
Pujols' eighth-inning shot off John Franco tied him with Kent Hrbek (1982) and Carlos Delgado (1994), and he has one game left this month to break the record.
"I don't hear a lot of people celebrating that right now," manager Tony La Russa said. "Tomorrow we'll reflect on some of the positives."
Benny Agbayani, Mets: The St. Louis School product singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th in New York's 6-5 extra-inning win over St. Louis. Agbayani was hitless in his previous five at-bats, striking out twice and stranding one runner. He has four RBIs on the year and is hitting .303. Hawaii's Own
Mike Fetters, Dodgers: The Iolani School alumnus did not pitch in the Dodgers' 7-6 win over the Phillies.
Chris Truby, Astros: The Damien graduate tripled in two runs in the sixth inning in Houston's 6-4 win over Florida. Truby was 2-for-4, including the triple, which broke a 2-2 tie. He also grounded into a double play, leaving four runners on base, and committed two fielding errors.
"That's the worst I've played in the field in a while," Truby said. "I felt real uncomfortable out there. It was nice to get a couple of RBIs after making a couple of misplays earlier in the game."
Truby is hitting .253 with 18 RBIs and leads the Astros with seven home runs.