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Mets win on Diamondbacks' ninth inning error

Chris Burke, top, is tagged out by New York Mets third baseman David Wright, bottom, as Burke attempted to take two bases on a throwing error at first base in the eighth inning. (AP Photo / May 4, 2008)

BY DAVID LENNON | david.lennon@newsday.com

11:11 PM EDT, May 4, 2008

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PHOENIX - With the Mets' Johan Santana, a two-time Cy Young winner, matched against Dan Haren, another of the Diamondbacks' elite starters, there was a good chance that one of those golden arms would decide Sunday's series finale at Chase Field.

Instead, it was the thunderbolt arm of Ryan Church, who didn't deliver a pitch but still launched what may have been the most important throw of the Mets' 5-2 win.

After Santana and Haren battled to a relative draw over six innings and Arizona rallied to tie the score at 2 against Joe Smith in the seventh, it was Church who cut down the potential go-ahead run at third base on Chris Burke's leadoff bunt.

How did Burke wind up sprinting for third on a hit that traveled roughly 20 feet from the plate? Pedro Feliciano picked up the ball and hurried a throw that sailed past first base and up the rightfield line into foul territory. That's where Church rushed to grab it and, in one motion, rifle a perfect one-hop bullet that David Wright grabbed for the lunging tag on Burke, who had been waved around second by third-base coach Chip Hale.

So Burke made the first out of the inning at third, a cardinal sin. "The biggest thing was getting a grip on the ball and chucking it," Church said. "I was running toward the ball and took a peek to what he was doing. In that situation, there's not any panic or anything."

Brian Schneider had watched Church make similar throws during their time together with the Nationals, so when the ball was loose, the catcher was rooting for Burke to keep circling the bases. "I was telling him to go," Schneider said. "I wanted him to go. It was a huge play for us."

With that threat squashed in spectacular fashion, the Mets did in the ninth inning what Arizona could not -- take advantage of a mistake.

The Diamondbacks' bullpen had not allowed an earned run in 22 innings, and after Carlos Bel.tran and Moises Alou opened with back-to-back singles off reliever Chad Qualls, Carlos Delgado chopped a ground ball to first baseman Conor Jackson that should have been a routine double play. Jackson snared the ball cleanly, but his throw to second soared over the head of shortstop Augie Ojeda and into leftfield for an error that allowed Beltran to score the go-ahead run.

Pinch hitter Marlon Anderson supplied an RBI single and Jose Reyes added a sacrifice fly as the Mets improved to 15-2 in their last 17 games at Chase Field. They still have not lost a series in Arizona since 2003.

"The effort was there, we executed," said Billy Wagner, who needed only eight pitches in the ninth inning to earn his seventh save in eight chances. "That's what you look for. It's always an encouraging sign that you're headed in the right direction."

Wagner torched the Mets, as well as Oliver Perez, after Wednesday's loss to the Pirates at Shea. But they regrouped to stick the D-Backs with only their second series loss this year. Arizona still has baseball's best record at 21-10.

"They're a good team," Wright said. "We've been a little inconsistent, but we've proven that we can play with anybody in the National League."

After the Mets took a 1-0 lead on Reyes' RBI single in the third, Wright led off the fourth with his second homer in three games. Santana held the lead, but the effort took its toll when he needed a season-high 116 pitches for only six innings.

Arizona cut the Mets' lead to 2-1 on Chris Snyder's RBI triple off the top of the leftfield wall in the fourth, but Santana stranded two runners by striking out Haren. When Haren's spot came up again in the sixth, this time with two outs and two on, the D-Backs sent up pinch hitter Orlando Hudson. Santana walked Hudson to load the bases before throwing three straight fastballs to Chris Young, who hit a soft fly to right-centerfield that Church had to hustle under.

"You don't let the situation control you," Santana said. "You've got to focus."

That's exactly what the Mets did for most of their three-day stay at Chase Field, and even when Smith allowed the tying run in the seventh on Mark Reynolds' broken-bat single, they never flinched. "Hopefully, we can use this as a springboard," Wright said, "to give us some momentum going into L.A."