New York Mets

THE ST. LOUIS Cardinals are tied with Atlanta for the NL wild-card lead, getting a tiebreaking two-run triple from Ryan Theriot in the seventh inning of a 13-6 victory over the host Houston Astros last night. The sliding Braves lost 7-1 to the Phillies, sending the race for the NL's final playoff spot to the final day of the regular season. If the teams are tied after tonight's game, St. Louis will host a one-game playoff tomorrow night. The Cardinals trailed 5-0 early and appeared to be headed for a second straight loss to the Astros.

ST. LOUIS - Willie Harris' two-run single capped a six-run ninth inning as the New York Mets rallied for an 8-6 win over St. Louis on Thursday to drop the Cardinals two games behind Atlanta in the NL wild-card race. The loss dropped St. Louis two games behind idle Atlanta for the wild card, with each team having six games left. The Cardinals lost for only the third time in 16 games. Shortstop Rafael Furcal misplayed a potential double-play grounder at the start of the Mets' six-run burst, fueling the comeback with his fifth error in six games.

DILLON GEE rebounded from a wretched start and the New York Mets, back on the field following a 2-day break because of Hurricane Irene, finished off a doubleheader sweep of the visiting Florida Marlins with a 5-1 victory last night. R.A. Dickey (6-1)) shut down the sluggish Marlins in the opener, pitching seven spotless innings in a 2-1 victory for his first win in more than a month. Mets starters had tossed 21 consecutive scoreless innings before Gee (12-5) gave up a home run to Greg Dobbs in the sixth.

CHRIS CAPUANO pitched the game of his life, tossing a two-hitter and striking out a career-high 13 as the New York Mets beat the visiting Atlanta Braves, 6-0, last night, in their final matchup before taking a break because of Hurricane Irene. New flood gates were put in place outside Citi Field as a precaution, but Major League Baseball took no chances. The Braves-Mets games today and tomorrow were postponed, to be made up as a doubleheader on Sept. 8. The shutdown comes right after the Mets, at last, won the opener of a homestand.

When Vance Worley woke up Tuesday at 1:51 p.m. in his South Jersey hotel room that doubles as home during this baseball season, he put his feet on the floor. Almost instantaneously, the room began shaking. There must be some fun stuff going on next door , Worley thought at first. But then the room swayed and the 23-year-old from Sacramento, Calif., knew what was happening - barring some crazy hallucination from sleeping in so late. "That's different," the Phillies righthander said.

When Vance Worley woke up Tuesday at 1:51 p.m. in his South Jersey hotel room that doubles as home during this baseball season, he put his feet on the floor. Almost instantaneously, the room began shaking. There must be some fun stuff going on next door, Worley thought at first. But then the room swayed and the 23-year-old from Sacramento, Calif., knew what was happening - barring some crazy hallucination from sleeping in so late. "Great way to start the day," the Phillies righthander said.

What kind of season has it been for the New York Mets? Their top three hitters - Jose Reyes (.336), David Murphy (.320), and Ike Davis (.302) - all are on the disabled list. Not to be outdone, the top two pitchers, in terms of ERA - Chris Young (1.88) and Taylor Buchholz (3.12) - also are on the DL. And Johan Santana , languishing on the DL since March 22, hasn't pitched all season. Leaves you all choked up, doesn't it?   1,200 home runs After a month and a half on the DL, Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankees lineup to face the Minnesota Twins.

FOR A TEAM that appeared "drained" to manager Terry Collins, the New York Mets look surprisingly spry. Lucas Duda and Jason Bay each drove in three runs with bases-loaded doubles and the visiting Mets held off the reeling Reds for a 10-9 victory yesterday that gave New York its first-ever four-game sweep in Cincinnati - the last two after slugger Carlos Beltran was traded to San Francisco. "The last two games speaks volumes about these guys," said Collins, who watched his team weather weeks of speculation about Beltran.

Jose Reyes had Citi Field buzzing from the moment he stepped out of the dugout right up until he quashed a rally in the eighth inning with his glove. Carlos Beltran impressed everyone, too, swinging the bat as if losing 5 pounds in 3 days and having a 105-degree fever had no effect on him at all. With their two All-Stars back in the lineup, the New York Mets showed some spunk in a crisp, 4-2 win over St. Louis last night. "Our lineup certainly changes with those two guys in that order," manager Terry Collins said.

There's more to it than just Jack McKeon. There's the timely hitting, the stingy pitching, the proper execution with runners on base. Now matter how anyone tries to explain it, though, the Florida Marlins simply look like a new team under their old manager. Clay Hensley came off the disabled list to win his first major league start in three years and the visiting Marlins beat the New York Mets, 4-1, last night for their ninth victory in 10 games. "We're interested in winning," McKeon said.