Pedro, Wright lead Mets past Reds for series split

NEW YORK (AP) -- The chants are becoming routine at Shea Stadium whenever David Wright makes a nice play in the field or gets a key hit.

"MVP, MVP, MVP."

And Pedro Martinez agrees with the crowd.

"So far, yeah," Martinez said Thursday after Wright hit a pair of two-run homers in the New York Mets' 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. "The kid's done it all."

Martinez (7-3) won for just the second time since April 28, thanks to Wright's bat. The Mets' third baseman connected in the fourth and fifth innings for his third two-homer game of the season, raising his batting average to .338. He has 10 RBI in the last five games and 60 for the season in 71 games.

Wright's first homer went to left-center, the second one to right. It was an example of his power to all fields.

"I definitely try to work on going the other way," he said. "That's part of my game that I think is one of my strengths. It's good to see the ball going that way."

Both homers came against Eric Milton (4-4), the first one after a walk to Carlos Beltran, the second after an RBI single by Beltran.

Milton thought he had Beltran struck out before Wright's fourth-inning homer tied the score at 2.

"It was a fastball," Milton said. "It was right there. That's a strikeout. That changed the whole game for me. There's one out there. Even if Wright comes up with a homer, it's not a tie game. We're still up by a run."

By the time Wright came up again, Milton was on the ropes, trailing 4-2.

"He was a little erratic," Wright said. "With the count 2-0, he wants to throw a strike. He threw a fastball and I got it. I kept my hands back, put a good swing on it and hit it on the good part of the bat."

The win gave New York a split of the four-game series and widened its lead in the NL East to 10 games over Philadelphia.

Martinez overcame some unusual wildness to throw six innings for the victory. He allowed just two hits but walked five batters -- he is averaging only two free passes per game this season. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out eight, including his final four batters.

"I made pitches when I had to," Martinez said. "I felt some pitches had the corners. I can't blame (plate umpire Ron Kulpa). I stayed focused and made adjustments. I had my struggles. The only one to blame was me. I've got to go to the video room and see what I was doing wrong."

Martinez won his first five starts but had won just one of his last nine with five no-decisions. He beat Arizona 15-2 on June 11 in the midst of the Mets' 9-1 road trip.

Heath Bell worked a scoreless seventh. Chad Bradford came in with two runners on in the eighth and struck out three of his four batters for his second save.

The Reds nicked Martinez for a run in the second when Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn opened with singles. Brandon Phillips bunted the runners along and David Ross delivered a sacrifice fly.

In the fourth, the Reds loaded the bases with none out on walks to Scott Hatteberg, Kearns and Dunn. Phillips hit a sacrifice fly, but Martinez escaped further damage.

The Mets took the lead in the fourth, when Milton walked Beltran leading off and Wright followed with his first home run. Julio Franco then doubled and scored on a single by Xavier Nady.

The Reds tried to come back in the fifth when Felipe Lopez and Hatteberg walked with two outs. But Martinez struck out Kearns, stranding the runners.

Jose Reyes opened the Mets' fifth with his second hit and went all the way from first to third when Chris Woodward bounced slowly to third base. Beltran followed with an RBI single and Wright hit his 17th homer for a 6-2 lead.

Game notes
Reyes extended his hitting streak to 10 games. ... Reyes stole two bases in the first inning and Lopez stole two in the fifth. ... RF Kearns made a diving catch in the second to rob Nady of a hit. ... Wright's two homers gave him 202 RBI for his career.