MLB
  Scores
  Schedules
  Standings
  Statistics
  Transactions
  Injuries: AL | NL
  Players
  Weekly Lineup
  Message Board
  Minor Leagues
  MLB Stat Search

Clubhouses

Sport Sections
  Monday, Aug. 7 8:05pm ET
Abbott home run in 11th lifts Mets
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

HOUSTON (AP) -- Mike Hampton didn't come back to beat the Astros. Derek Bell, however, did help send Houston to yet another loss.

Mike Hampton
Mike Hampton, pitching for the first time in Enron Field, allowed nine hits in seven innings and also had two RBI.

Bell, a throw-in in the Hampton trade, tied it with a two-out, ninth-inning homer off former-Met Octavio Dotel, and New York went on to beat the Astros 6-5 Monday night on Kurt Abbott's 11th-inning homer.

Booed by Astros fans in his first at-bat, Bell was 0-for-4 when he came up in the ninth.

"I heard mostly boos, but that's Houston for you, they don't appreciate nothing," Bell said. "It's sad to see them boo Hampton, too. They rode me pretty hard the whole game.

"It (homer) was very special. I gave us a chance to win and it was with my mom here in the stands. It's a little bit of vindication."

Dotel, who blew his second straight save chance after converting his first five opportunities this season, was one of three players sent to Houston in the Hampton trade Dec. 23.

He relieved starting the ninth, protecting a 5-4 lead created by Chris Truby's three-run double in a four-run fifth.

Hampton, 22-4 for the Astros last year, was dealt to the Mets after he wouldn't agree to a contract extension and Houston decided not to risk him becoming a free agent after this season.

"Now that it's all over, you talk to anyone that pitches against his old team, you want to do well," Hampton said. "I stayed within myself and I think I threw some pretty good pitches."

Hampton, pitching for the first time at Enron Field, allowed nine hits in seven innings. He also went 2-for-3 with two RBI and is hitting .309 (17-for-55) this season with eight RBI.

"He pitched a great game, he was leading 4-2 in that fifth inning but our defense wasn't in the right spot," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "When the ball went into the outfield I thought it would be caught easy but Jay (center fielder Payton) may have moved a little."

Truby, however, is hot, with nine RBI in his last two games. He had six RBI, including his first career grand slam, in Sunday's 8-1 win over Houston and had the big hit again.

"The last couple of nights, I've come up with a lot of guys on base and I've had some good pitches to hit," Truby said. "The one tonight was a good pitch. It was just a fly ball that was able to find a gap. I looked up and saw where the center fielder was and I couldn't believe it."

Houston had a chance to win in the ninth, putting a runner on third against John Franco with two outs, but Daryle Ward grounded out. The Astros put runners at first and second with one out in the 10th, but Armando Benitez (3-4) struck out Julio Lugo and Glen Barker.

Benitez got Moises Alou to fly out to Bell in right field to end the game. Bell, who clashed with Astros manager Larry Dierker last year, faked as if he was about to throw the ball into the stands. Instead, Bell shook his head and kept it.

Abbott, who hit a game-winning, 10th-inning homer against Baltimore on June 8, homered off Jason Green (1-1) with one out in the 11th, his fourth of the season.

"It was a pitch that was not quite down the middle," Green said. "I knew he was a good fastball hitter, but I got behind and I had to throw a fastball. I got it out over the plate and he got a good swing on it."

New York also had a chance in the 10th, but Todd Zeile was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Jeff Bagwell, with plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ruling catcher Tony Eusebio applied the tag just before Zeile's hand touched the plate.

In the first meeting of the season between the Mets and Astros, Houston starter Wade Miller allowed four runs -- three earned -- six hits and five walks in 5 1/3 innings, striking out five.

With the Astros trailing 4-1 and one out in the fifth, Hampton walked Lugo, and Lance Berkman and Bagwell followed with singles.

Richard Hidalgo flied out, Alou walked to load the bases and Truby, recalled from Triple-A New Orleans on June 16 to replace injured Ken Caminiti, doubled to the gap in right-center.

Hampton's RBI single put the Mets ahead in the first following a pair of walks by Miller, but Tony Eusebio tied it with an RBI single in the second.

Robin Ventura hit a solo homer in the third, and Hampton had a run-scoring infield hit in the fourth, with another run scoring when Truby threw wildly to first after Hampton's dribbler down the third-base line.

"He pitched well," Houston's Jeff Bagwell said of Hampton. "This is the first time I've faced him in a game situation. I've played behind him a lot.

"I was quite impressed the way he used both sides of the plate and changed speeds. I wish he still had a star on his chest instead of a Mets jersey."

Game notes
The Mets have a 22-14 record in one-run games this season, second-best in the NL behind Florida (25-15). Houston has the worst record at 6-23. ... Alou played in his 1,000th major league game. ... The Astros went over the 2 million attendance mark in their 52nd home game Monday night. Last season, they didn't reach the 2 million mark until Aug. 27 and it took 65 games. ... Mets 2B Edgardo Alfonzo left in the ninth with a mild right groin strain after he was hurt batting. Alfonzo, listed as day to day, was replaced in the lineup by Abbott.
 


ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard

NY Mets Clubhouse

Houston Clubhouse


RECAPS
Seattle 8
NY Yankees 5

Cleveland 2
Texas 0

Baltimore 4
Detroit 3

Minnesota 4
Tampa Bay 2

Kansas City 8
Toronto 7

Anaheim 4
Boston 1

Cincinnati 3
Atlanta 2

San Diego 6
Philadelphia 4

NY Mets 6
Houston 5

St. Louis 2
Florida 1

Pittsburgh 8
Colorado 7

Arizona 5
Montreal 2

Chicago Cubs 7
Los Angeles 3

San Francisco 8
Milwaukee 1

AUDIO/VIDEO
audio
 Returning to Houston was business as usual for the Mets' Mike Hampton.
wav: 191 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6