Wright, Valentin power Mets to best record in baseball

DENVER (AP) -- David Wright arrived in Denver mired in a frustrating slump. The thin air of Coors Field seems to have been the perfect cure.

Wright hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs, and Jose Valentin homered twice as the New York Mets routed the Colorado Rockies 11-3 Wednesday night to give them the best record in baseball.

"During a 162-game season, you are going to go through some funks," said Wright, who was 6-for-44 over 13 games before Tuesday. "I had my funk."

Since coming to town, Wright is 5-for-9 with eight RBI in two games.

"I just tried to relax a little bit and take a deep breath," Wright said. "And once you have a good at-bat, then you feel better up there and can string together a couple of good ones."

Carlos Delgado added his 34th home run for the Mets, who won for the 11th time in 12 games and improved to 82-49 (.626). The Tigers split a doubleheader with the Yankees, putting them at 83-50 (.624).

"It just goes to show you that we are playing great baseball," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We really have an outstanding group here."

The Mets maintained their 15½-game lead in the NL East, and Dave Williams (4-3) benefited from New York's 12-hit attack.

Williams struck out five, walked one and allowed three runs and nine hits in seven innings. He also walked twice and had the second two-hit game of his career, but was called out on an appeal for missing third base in the fifth inning.

After the game, Williams was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

"This is basically a move to give us flexibility on our playoff roster," Randolph said. "Dave will come back on Tuesday and make the start for us and he will do bullpen work down there."

The Rockies are 61-71, falling 10 games below .500 for the first time this year. Starter Josh Fogg (9-9) lasted 1 1/3 innings and gave up eight runs on only five hits.

"I got four outs, plain and simple," said Fogg, who faced only 12 hitters. "I was 2-0, 3-0 on hitters and didn't get ahead of anybody."

New York hammered Fogg for five runs in the first inning. Wright homered to left after Paul Lo Duca singled and Carlos Beltran and Delgado walked to load the bases.

"It seems like there are always runners in scoring position no matter when you hit," Wright said. "There's no guy you can really pitch around."

Valentin added a two-out solo homer in the inning.

Fogg walked Williams to start the second inning and, one out later, Lo Duca doubled to center. Beltran drove in Williams with a single and Lo Duca came home when Ryan Spilborghs misplayed the ball in right field.

Ramon Ramirez replaced Fogg and gave up a two-out RBI single to Wright to make it 8-0.

The Mets added two runs in the third on Valentin's second homer of the game and Lo Duca's sacrifice fly, making it 10-0.

Colorado got a run in the third when Choo Freeman scored a wild pitch by Williams.

Yorvit Torrealba hit an RBI triple with one out in the fourth after Matt Holliday led off with a double, making it 10-2.

Delgado's solo home run came in the sixth off Jeremy Affeldt. Kazuo Matsui added an RBI single in the seventh for Colorado.

"It was a tough hole for us to dig our way out of tonight," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "And we got into it very quickly."

Game notes
Due to the hurricane warnings, neither outfielder Cliff Floyd nor right-hander Pedro Martinez were able to work out Wednesday in Florida at the team's minor league complex in Port St. Lucie. ... Beltran has scored at least once in 12 consecutive games, a Mets record. ... Valentin had his 18th multiple home run game. ... Fogg's 1 1/3-inning start was the shortest for the Rockies this season. ... SS Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado's first-round draft choice in the June 2005 draft, made his major league debut and went 0-4 with three strikeouts.