Easley does it for surging Mets
Damion Easley twisted away from an inside pitch and backed away from the plate to give his sore left leg a brief rest. The New York Mets second baseman felt much better moments later.
Easley hit a two-out homer in the eighth inning to send the Mets to their seventh straight win, a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.
"At that moment, I was just trying to go back up the middle and extend the inning," Easley said of his drive to left-center on a 3-2 pitch from reliever Taylor Buchholz (3-3).
New York allowed three hits for the fourth consecutive game, the first time that's happened in franchise history.
Jayson Werth sent the Philadelphia Phillies to another win, hitting a game-ending RBI single in the 12th inning of a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"I was happy to get the hit and get us out of here," said Werth, who was 3-for-7.
Shane Victorino also had three hits for the Phillies, who have won three straight. Victorino tied it at 5 with a two-run triple off Tony Pena in the eighth inning.
Aramis Ramirez broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the eighth inning for Chicago.Shut down by starter Matt Cain for seven innings, the Cubs struck quickly against his replacement and held off a ninth-inning rally to send the Giants to their fifth straight loss.
Scott Hairston had a double and a triple to back San Diego's Jake Peavy.Hairston is 17-for-34 (.500) with six doubles, five homers, nine RBIs and nine runs scored in his past 11 games since June 25.
Chris Volstad came within one out of a shutout in his first major league start and Florida's Jeremy Hermida and Jorge Cantu hit back-to-back homers in the first inning.Volstad (2-0) became the sixth pitcher since 1971 to get a victory as a starter and as a reliever in his first two big league appearances, joining teammate Doug Waechter, who did it with Tampa Bay in 2003.
At Milwaukee, Jay Bruce scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on the third wild pitch by the Brewers.Edwin Encarnacion hit a ground-rule double off Brian Shouse (3-1) to start the inning, and advanced when Bruce reached on a throwing error by third baseman Bill Hall. Solomon Torres relieved and walked David Ross. Pinch-hitter Adam Dunn hit into a fielder's choice, and Bruce scored on a wild pitch.
Ronnie Belliard homered twice and drove in five runs and Tim Redding finally got a victory after nine consecutive no-decisions for Washington.
