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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- Benny Agbayani took off from second base as
Jorge Velandia's bunt trickled down the third-base line, and knew
his postseason future rested on being able to get to third base.
|  | | New York catcher Mike Piazza blocks the plate as Montreal's Brian Schneider is out trying to score on a hit by Tomaso De La Rosa.
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Agbayani, hobbled recently by a strained right hamstring, got to
third and scored the winning run in the 13th inning when Montreal
third baseman Geoff Blum threw away Velandia's bunt as the New York
Mets beat the Expos 3-2 Sunday in a final tune-up for the playoffs.
"That was a big, big test for me right there," Agbayani said.
"I wanted to be 100 percent heading into the playoffs. If it
popped, it popped. I didn't want to hold anything back. I tested my
leg, I feel good and I'm ready for the playoffs."
The Mets, who are the National League wild card team and have won eight of their past nine, open the playoffs Wednesday against the NL West
champion San Francisco Giants.
The Mets used 18 of 19 position players, with only outfielder
Timo Perez, who left the game Saturday with tightness in his right
hamstring, not playing. Even reliever Rick White had a
pinch-hitting appearance -- he grounded out to first for Bobby M.
Jones in the 10th.
"I like baseball so I wasn't rooting for it to end," Mets
manager Bobby Valentine said. "I was just worried about injuries
and that kind of thing. But we're healthy and ready to go to San
Francisco."
Agbayani led off the 13th with a walk against Jeremy Powell
(0-3), and pitcher Pat Mahomes hit an infield single. Velandia put
a bunt down the third-base line and Blum came up with the ball but
threw it over shortstop Tomas De la Rosa's head and Agbayani came
around to score.
"I felt good and had no doubts while I was running," said
Agbayani, the only Met to play the entire game. "My leg felt fine
coming in, and it feels fine now."
The error was the third of the game for Blum, who made just six
coming in.
"It was sort of the nail in the coffin, so to speak," Blum
said. "The whole culmination of the season was in this one game.
It just seemed like this was the kind of stuff that happened to us
this year. It's over."
Rick Reed started for the Mets, but threw just two innings.
Reed, who will start Game 3 next Saturday against the Giants, threw
32 pitches. He allowed one run, three hits and struck out one in
his warmup outing.
Valentine announced before the game that Mike Hampton would
start Game 1, Al Leiter would start Game 2, and Reed Game 3 for the
Mets, who finished the regular season 94-68 and were 10-8 in extra
innings.
The Mets had a chance to win in the 11th when Kurt Abbott hit a
two-out double in the gap in left-center field. But Matt Franco, on
first after a single, was waved home by third-base coach Cookie
Rojas and the relay throw from De la Rosa to catcher Michael
Barrett beat Franco.
Jones got out of a bases-loaded jam in the 10th with no outs
when he struck out pinch-hitter Orlando Cabrera and Peter Bergeron,
and got Terry Jones to pop out to center.
In the 11th, the Expos loaded the bases with one out against
Mahomes. But Mahomes struck out Barrett and De la Rosa flied out to
center. Mahomes (5-3) pitched three innings and struck out four for
the victory.
"We had guys coming off the bench and I knew they were going to
play hard," Mahomes said. "Plus, I know the fans wanted to see us
leave the stadium with a win."
Montreal, which finished on a season-high nine-game losing
streak, took a 1-0 lead in the second on Brian Schneider's run-scoring double.
The Mets tied it in the second on Mike Bordick's RBI single.
The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Jay Payton hit a
one-out double down the left-field line, and Bordick followed with
a run-scoring single.
Pinch-hitter Fernando Seguignol hit a 1-0 pitch from Dennis Cook
into the left-field picnic area to tie it at 2 in the seventh.
Dustin Hermanson started and allowed two runs on five hits in
four innings for the Expos, who finished the season 67-95.
"This game should have been early -- bases loaded no out, bases
loaded one out," Blum said. "We just couldn't get any runs."
Montreal will play at Olympic Stadium again next season, but the
future of the franchise is uncertain beyond the 2001 season.
One priority for the team will be to sign broadcast agreements.
This season, the Expos had no local or national television deals
and no local English language radio broadcasts.
Game notes
The game was the longest, in terms of innings, for both
teams this season. ... Agbayani, who missed the first two games of
the series, started in left field and went 1-for-5 with a walk. ...
Mets right-handed pitcher Grant Roberts pitched four solid innings in relief of
Reed, allowing just one hit and striking out four in four innings.
... Mets pitchers combined to strike out 15, tying the season high
set Aug. 23 at San Diego. ... Expos outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and second baseman Jose Vidro, both among the leaders in a number of offensive
categories in the NL, sat out.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Montreal Clubhouse
NY Mets Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 11
Toronto 4
Detroit 12
Minnesota 11
Tampa Bay 3
Boston 2
Baltimore 7
NY Yankees 3
Kansas City 6
Chi. White Sox 2
Seattle 5
Anaheim 2
Oakland 3
Texas 0
Colorado 10
Atlanta 5
NY Mets 3
Montreal 2
St. Louis 6
Cincinnati 2
Florida 7
Philadelphia 5
Chicago Cubs 10
Pittsburgh 9
San Diego 4
Los Angeles 0
San Francisco 11
Arizona 4
Houston 6
Milwaukee 1
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