Mets Score 4 In 9th To Beat Cubs 6-2

Friday, August 3rd 2007, 5:46 pm

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) _ Carlos Delgado hit a go-ahead double off Ryan Dempster in a four-run ninth inning, and the New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 6-2 Friday to extend their winning streak to three.

Delgado's double off Dempster (2-4) followed a leadoff walk to David Wright as the Mets (62-47) moved 15 games over .500 for the first time since early June. Delgado scored on Shawn Green's two-out double inside the third-base line for a 4-2 lead.

Green came in on an RBI single by Ruben Gotay, pinch-hitter Moises Alou singled and Jose Reyes got the Mets' fifth hit of the inning, another run-scoring single that led to boos among the 41,512 fans at Wrigley Field.

Guillermo Mota (1-0) pitched out of an eighth-inning jam to gain his first major league win since serving a 50-game suspension for a positive steroid test.

Chicago ace Carlos Zambrano, bidding for his major league-leading 15th win, left in the sixth inning because of heat-related cramping. Zambrano gave up two hits, including a homer to Ramon Castro, and tied a career high by walking seven in five-plus innings.

Mets starter Orlando Hernandez allowed two runs and five hits, including a sixth-inning homer by Derrek Lee. Jason Kendall hit a two-out RBI double off the ivy-covered wall in left to tie the game at 2-2 in the seventh, finishing El Duque, who struck out nine and walked one.

Marlon Anderson's two-out RBI single in the seventh put the Mets ahead 2-1 after reliever Carlos Marmol walked two batters.

Lee reached third in the bottom of the inning after a single, stolen base and throwing error on Castro before Aramis Ramirez flied out against Mota.

Wright singled for the Mets' first hit with two outs in the fifth and Delgado drew the Mets' seventh walk to load the bases. Zambrano got out of the jam by striking out Anderson, then pumped his fist wildly and made a spin move in front of the mound.

As Zambrano warmed up to start the sixth, manager Lou Piniella stood near the third base line and watched to see how the right-hander was feeling.

Zambrano gave up the homer to Castro and had a 1-1 count on Green when trainer Mark O'Neal and Piniella came to mound. After a brief chat, Piniella took the ball and called on Marmol.

Zambrano threw 93 pitches on a comfortable 77-degree day with the wind blowing in.

Lee's 12th homer was a two-out solo shot off Hernandez that tied the game in the sixth. Castro's ninth homer had put the Mets ahead in the top of the inning.

Notes: Zambrano also walked seven against the Astros on Aug. 14 last year. ... David Newhan started in left field for the Mets and made a nice running catch of Ryan Theriot's liner in the eighth. ... Cubs RHP Kerry Wood, activated from the DL before the game, warmed up in the bullpen in the seventh inning and fans began to cheer at the beginning of the eighth, only to have Howry come in and pitch.