NEW YORK // Carlos Delgado hit a pair of three-run home runs to help the New York Mets rout the Houston Astros 9-1 and maintain their slender lead in the National League East. The Mets stayed a half-game ahead of Philadelphia in the division after the Phillies blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0. The Mets meet the Phillies in a crucial two-game series in Philadelphia.
Mike Pelfrey (13-8) pitched his second complete game in a row, coming within two outs of a shutout. "I feel great. I want to help the team," Pelfrey said. "Whenever they give me the ball, I'm going to take it. The guys behind me played very good. If I can save the bullpen for a night, that makes it better." The Mets, already without the closer Billy Wagner, found out before the game that the starter John Maine will be out for at least three weeks with a bone spur in his right shoulder. "He has tremendous, tremendous confidence right now," the New York manager Jerry Manuel said.
Delgado launched the Mets into a 3-0 lead with a three-run homer in the first inning before adding another in the seventh. Brian Moehler (9-5) allowed four runs over five and a third innings and took the loss. "That's as good a performance as I've seen against us this year," the Houston manager Cecil Cooper said. "He [Pelfrey] was just a monster tonight." Meanwhile, for the Phillies, Brett Myers tossed seven innings as Jimmy Rollins had three hits and two RBIs to complete their first four-game sweep of the Dodgers in 23 years. Philadelphia remained a half-game behind the Mets with their eighth win in 10 games since losing four straight at Dodger Stadium. Coming off his first shutout in four years, Myers (7-10) ran his scoreless innings streak to 16. He allowed nine hits, struck out eight and walked three.
* Agencies
