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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- A pregame players-only meeting helped the
sliding New York Mets relax.
|  | | Benny Agbayani led a Mets offense Tuesday night that woke up from a deep sleep to rout the Brewers. |
Benny Agbayani's aggressiveness, Milwaukee's shoddy defense and
Bobby J. Jones' efficient pitching got them a much-needed win.
Agbayani hit a solo homer and also scored on his own two-run
single as the Mets' bats awoke from their silent September to beat
the Milwaukee 10-2 Tuesday night.
"The guys talked before the game about coming out and being
aggressive," manager Bobby Valentine said. "They came out and
walked the talk."
The Mets scored four runs in the second -- more than they had in
12 of the past 15 games -- aided by backup catcher Tyler Houston's
two throwing errors and a two-run single by Agbayani.
New York had scored only 30 runs in losing eight of 10 to open
this month and tension was building around the clubhouse. That led
to the meeting, which players described as a reminder to have a
little fun again.
"It was just a little pep talk," said Jones (9-5), who gave up two runs and seven hits in eight innings to win his fifth straight
decision.
Whatever it was, it worked.
Despite the slow September, New York is within two games of
first-place Atlanta in the NL East and has a comfortable margin
over Arizona for the wild card -- fives games, pending the outcome
of Diamondbacks' late game against Los Angeles.
"We don't worry about what Arizona or anyone else is doing,"
Agbayani said. "We worry about the New York Mets and what we want
to accomplish."
Todd Pratt, subbing for the struggling Mike Piazza, walked twice
and had an RBI single. Edgardo Alfonzo added a solo homer in the
eighth. New York's 10 runs and 13 hits were its since getting 16
hits in a 13-3 win over Randy Johnson and Arizona on Aug. 25.
"It's easy to play when you have the lead," Pratt said. "Guys
start relaxing more."
But it was a pair of errors by Houston -- playing for the injured
Henry Blanco -- that helped the Mets break through in the second
inning against John Snyder (3-9).
"Those are the type of things you don't want to see," Brewers
manager Davey Lopes said. "We gave them opportunities and they
took advantage."
With runners on first and second and one out, Jones bunted in
front of the plate. Houston, starting his first game behind the
plate since June 9, picked the ball up, looked toward second before
throwing wildly to first for an error, scoring Pratt.
Agbayani followed with a two-run single to center and came
around to score after a wild sequence of Milwaukee throws.
Houston fielded Lou Collier's wide throw home from center and
tried to nab Agbayani at second. The low throw hit shortstop Mark
Loretta's glove and bounded into shallow left-center. Agbayani
raced home beating Collier's throw to Snyder, who was covering the
plate.
"I started going toward third and saw Cookie (Rojas) waving me
in and I kept going," Agbayani said.
Kurt Abbott added an RBI single in the third. The Mets scored
two more in the fifth, with their first three-hit frame since the
third inning on Sept. 1 at St. Louis -- a span of 93 innings.
Alfonzo led off with a walk and then with one out, Todd Zeile,
Jay Payton and Pratt hit consecutive singles, scoring two runs and
knocking out Snyder. Agbayani added a solo homer, his 15th, in the
seventh.
"We've been talking about aggressive at-bats and aggressive
plays for a couple of weeks," Valentine said. "Tonight we made
things happen."
The Brewers, who along with the Houston Astros were eliminated
from postseason contention, scored in the first on a two-out RBI
single by Jeromy Burnitz, and an RBI double by Geoff Jenkins in the
third.
"We made some big mistakes in that one inning and things just
started snowballing," Burnitz said.
Snyder allowed seven runs -- five earned -- and nine hits in 4 1/3
innings to lose his seventh straight decision.
Game notes
Abbott had been 3-for-32 with runners in scoring position
before driving in Zeile with a single in the third inning. ... Mets
3B Robin Ventura returned to the lineup after two days off and
singled in his first at-bat, snapping an 0-for-23 stretch. ...
Snyder is 0-7 with a 6.13 ERA in 14 starts since June 22. ...
Milwaukee's Richie Sexson went 0-for-3 to snap his 12-game hitting
streak. ... Mets GM Steve Phillips missed the game to be with his
wife, Marni, who gave birth to the couple's third child in the
afternoon.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
NY Mets Clubhouse
RECAPS
Texas 9
Baltimore 1
Texas 6
Baltimore 5
(2nd game)
Boston 8
Cleveland 6
NY Yankees 10
Toronto 2
Detroit 10
Chi. White Sox 3
Anaheim 5
Tampa Bay 2
Oakland 5
Minnesota 3
Seattle 11
Kansas City 3
Chicago Cubs 2
Cincinnati 1
Montreal 1
Philadelphia 0
St. Louis 11
Pittsburgh 1
NY Mets 10
Milwaukee 2
Florida 5
Atlanta 4
San Francisco 9
Houston 5
Arizona 5
Los Angeles 4
Colorado 6
San Diego 3
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