Mets get ninth win in 10 games; Howard hits 47th for Phils

NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Mets have won a lot of games this season with their power. They showed once again Monday that they don't need to go long to win, parlaying a disputed single into a big inning.

Elias Says
Reyes Jose Reyes hit his 16th triple of the season Monday after hitting 17 three-baggers last season. Reyes is the first player to have more than 15 triples in consecutive seasons since the Yankees' Snuffy Stirnweiss had 16 in 1944 and 22 in 1945. • For more Elias Says, Click here.

Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Paul Lo Duca drove in two runs apiece and the Mets pushed across six runs in the third inning of an 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

New York, which had homered in nine straight games before Monday, has won nine of 10 to increase its NL East lead to a season-high 15½ games over the second-place Phillies.

"It's nice to know that you can manufacture runs and also hit the home run out of the ballpark," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "It's always nice to see a different twist every once in a while, and when we attack teams that way we're real tough."

Ryan Howard hit his NL-leading 47th homer and Pat Burrell had a two-run drive for Philadelphia. Howard homered in all three games of the series and has seven homers in his last 15 games against the Mets.

"We made a couple of little mistakes, but little mistakes have been hurting us and they did today," manager Charlie Manuel said.

Manuel was ejected in the third inning after an unusual sequence led to a reversed call that hurt the Phillies. Wright came up with runners on first and third and one out, and bounced a pitch from Jamie Moyer (1-1) up the line. Third-base umpire Randy Marsh said it was foul and Randolph came out to argue.

"From my angle, it was pretty obvious that it hit the edge of the bag," Randolph said. "Unless it hit a rock or something, it just jutted out to the left. Randy is an excellent umpire. He obviously was screened on the play or didn't really see it hit the front of the base there."

The umpires huddled briefly in the infield and changed the call, giving Wright an RBI single and putting runners on first and second.

"It's something I've never seen before and might not see again," said Wright, who also hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Manuel was ejected by Marsh after he came out to argue. He stayed in the infield to argue a little more before retreating to the dugout.

"I just looked at it 10,000 times in there," Manuel said afterward. "It didn't hit the bag. You can see space between it and the bag. We got three or four different angles on it."

Marsh told a pool reporter that the ball was curving down the line and he was distracted when third baseman Abraham Nunez came over. He said he conferred with the other umpires and they said it hit the base.

Wright's hit made it 4-0. Shawn Green added an RBI double and Chris Woodward hit a sacrifice fly to finish off the Mets' big inning.

Moyer pitched six innings in his second start with the Phillies, allowing nine hits and seven runs, five earned. The Phillies acquired Moyer from the Seattle Mariners for two minor league pitchers on Aug. 19.

"They get paid to swing the bats," Moyer said. "I got them to hit it on the ground but they hit it where we weren't. What are you going to do? That's why they're the team that they are and they've won as many games as they have."

Jose Reyes had two hits and scored two runs, and John Maine (4-3) pitched 6 1-3 solid innings for the Mets, who finished off an 8-1 homestand.

Maine and Moyer were supposed to pitch Sunday, but were pushed back a day when the finale of the three-game set was rained out. The delay didn't seem to affect Maine, who yielded two runs and five hits.

"That doesn't bother me," Maine said. "You've still got to go out there and pitch and warm up the same. You just make the adjustment."

Maine improved to 4-0 with four no-decisions in his last eight starts. His last loss was July 8 against the Marlins. He bounced back from a tough start in his last outing when St. Louis got to him for a season-high seven runs in five innings.

"He's been throwing the ball great for us," said Delgado, who hit a two-run single in the third. "He's been aggressively throwing strikes and he's good. He shows that he's got a lot of character."

Jeff Conine, Philadelphia's newest acquisition, was in uniform but didn't play. The Phillies got him and cash from the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday for a player to be named.

Game notes
Mets RHP Pedro Martinez (right calf) left for Florida on Monday morning to begin his rehabilitation at the team's minor league complex in Port St. Lucie. He is eligible to come off the disabled list on Wednesday. ... Phillies LHP Fabio Castro allowed a run in the seventh, snapping his 17 1-3 scoreless innings streak. ... The Phillies have hit 38 homers this month. The team record for August is 39, set in 2004. Howard tied Mike Schmidt for the club record for homers in August with his 12th this month. Schmidt hit 12 in August 1975. ... Mets LHP Billy Wagner struck out the side in the ninth in a non-save situation. ... Only 8,766 fans passed through the turnstiles on Monday for the rescheduled game. The paid attendance was 45,868.