Mets Blow Pirates Out of the Water, Win 6 Straight

Jose Reyes capped a five-run fourth with a two-run single, John Maine allowed three hits in six effective innings and the New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1 Saturday for their sixth straight win.

Carlos Beltran hit a long home run, David Wright tripled and drove in two runs and Gary Sheffield had two of the Mets' seaeson-high 17 hits. Reyes finished with three hits, three RBIs and a stolen base for New York, which moved three games over .500 for the first time this season.
    
The loss was Pittsburgh's seventh straight and 11th in 12 games after an 11-7 start.
    
New York was playing without manager Jerry Manuel, who was suspended one game for making contact with umpire Bill Welke during an argument in the Mets' 7-5 win over Philadelphia on Thursday night. Bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr. ran the team.
    
The Mets sent 10 batter to the plate in the fourth, using six singles and a walk to help hand Paul Maholm (3-1) his first loss of the season in seven starts. Maholm had retired eight straight after giving up two singles and a wild pitch for a run in the first.
    
Wright, Sheffield -- who had his first multihit game of the season -- and Fernando Tatis had consecutive RBI hits before Reyes got his two-run single to break open the game.
    
Mets starters improved to 5-0 during the winning streak as Maine (3-2) won his third straight. He walked just two -- one intentionally -- after giving six free passes in his outing May 4 against Atlanta.
    
Maine used the expansive Citi Field outfield to induce nine flyouts, making only one mistake: Maholm's first career homer leading off the fifth, after Maine had sat 23 minutes while the Mets scored five runs.
    
Beltran homered into the second deck of the left-field stands, his sixth homer of the year, leading off the fifth to make it 7-1. Wright had his run-scoring triple in the seventh.
    
Pinch-hitter Jeremy Reed and Reyes had RBI singles in the eighth off John Grabow to make it 10-1.
    
The Mets got off to a quick start against Maholm in the first. Reyes singled, advanced on a wild pitch, stole third for his ninth steal and scored on Luis Castillo's opposite-field single down the first-base line.