Ventura Sends the Mets a Message

Robin Ventura delivered the biggest blow to the New York Mets--beating his former team with an extra-inning home run.

On a night the New York Yankees delivered more punishment to their intracity rivals with both batted and thrown balls, Ventura’s two-run homer in the 10th inning capped a late rally and dealt the Mets a tough 4-2 loss Friday night at Shea Stadium.

After Derek Jeter tied it in the ninth with a two-out single off closer Armando Benitez, the Yankees won the opener of the highly anticipated Subway Series in the 10th.

Jorge Posada led off with a line drive off Satoru Komiyama (0-3) that eluded center fielder Timo Perez for a double. That brought up Ventura, traded to the Yankees in December as the Mets tried to add more power to their lineup.

The Mets have lost nine of 13 to fall seven games behind Atlanta in the National League East.

This 4-hour 36-minute game was a warmup for today’s anticipated main event when Roger Clemens comes to Shea to hit and pitch for the first time since beaning Mike Piazza and throwing a shattered bat in his direction two years ago.

The Mets took a 2-0 lead after four innings against Andy Pettitte before Sterling Hitchcock brought a little excitement to the game in the fifth.

With two out and a man on first, Hitchcock hit Jeromy Burnitz in the top of the helmet with a 1-2 pitch. The ball bounced out toward the pitcher’s mound.

Burnitz yelled at Hitchcock as he walked to first base and home plate umpire Mark Carlson warned both teams. Carlson talked to Met starter Steve Trachsel before the start of the sixth inning.

Chicago Cubs 8, Chicago White Sox 4--Nothing like a visit from their crosstown rivals to get the Cubs going.

Sammy Sosa hit his major league-leading 25th home run, and Todd Hundley homered twice. The homer was No. 475 for Sosa, tying him with Stan Musial and Willie Stargell for 19th on the all-time list.

Tampa Bay 4, Florida 3--Luis Castillo extended his hitting streak to 29 games, but the Devil Rays had the key hit in the 14th inning at Miami.

Ben Grieve’s run-scoring double broke a tie in the 14th, and the Devil Rays won. Rain halted play for 66 minutes going into the bottom of the 14th.

St. Louis 3, Kansas City 0--Matt Morris (9-4) pitched eight innings of two-hit ball to lead the Cardinals at St. Louis. He yielded singles in the first and second innings, and then retired 12 consecutive batters before issuing a fifth-inning walk to Brent Mayne.

Milwaukee 7, Minnesota 5--Pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard’s two-run single off Mike Jackson (2-2) in the bottom of the eight inning ended the Brewers’ seven-game losing streak. Tyler Houston and Jose Hernandez hit successive singles. After they were sacrificed over by Robert Machado, Belliard singled down the left-field line past diving third baseman Corey Koskie to score both runs.

Montreal 8, Toronto 2--First baseman Lee Stevens, hitting only .188 before the game at Montreal, homered and had a season-high four runs batted in. He walked with the bases loaded in the first inning before hitting a two-run homer in the third. In the fifth, he hit a run-scoring triple.

Texas 9, Houston 6--Michael Young went five for five with two homers and the Rangers put together a four-run sixth inning to beat Astros at Houston. Young has hits in his last seven at-bats. He hit solo homers in the second and the ninth and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth.

Seattle 6, San Diego 3--Freddy Garcia (9-4) won his fifth consecutive start and the Mariners roughed up former teammate Brett Tomko at San Diego.

Tomko (3-5), traded from the Mariners to the Padres in a six-player deal on Dec. 11, gave up eight hits, five runs and four walks in five innings.

Cleveland 5, Colorado 3--The Indians opened a 12-game road trip, their longest of the season, by winning for only the third time in nine games. It was their eighth win in their last 25 road games.

Detroit 6, Arizona 3--In his second major league start, Mike Maroth outpitched Curt Schilling at Bank One Ballpark. He gave up five hits in eight innings, spoiling Schilling’s bid for a major league-best 13th victory.

Oakland 3, San Francisco 2--Tim Hudson (4-6) ended the longest losing streak of his career with seven innings of seven-hit ball at Pacific Bell Park as the Athletics won their eighth in a row. It was his first victory since April 28.

Baltimore 7, Philadelphia 3--Jeff Conine tripled in two runs to break a tie in the eighth inning at Philadelphia. The Phillies fell a season-worst 10 games behind Atlanta in the NL East.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cincinnati 4, Pittsburgh 3--Aaron Boone hit a tying solo homer off Mike Williams in the bottom of the ninth and another off the closer in the 11th. The Reds hit solo homers in the seventh, eighth, ninth and 11th innings to hang onto sole possession of first place in the NL Central.