Delgado Caps 8th Inning Explosion with 3 Run Dinger

Carlos Delgado hit a three-run homer in a five-run eighth inning and finished with five RBIs, moving past Mickey Mantle on the career list and helping the surging New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 for their fifth straight win.

Jonathon Niese plugged a hole in New York's rotation with six effective innings and Carlos Beltran had a tiebreaking RBI single for the Mets, who improved to 3-0 on their eight-game homestand.

Jose Reyes started the winning rally with a single to center off Tyler Yates (0-2). After Luis Castillo walked, Beltran then sliced a single down the third-base line to give the Amazin's a 3-2 lead.

Sean Burnett came in for Yates and Delgado promptly greeted him with a drive over the wall in right-center. Delgado's fourth homer gave him 1,512 RBIs, snapping a tie with Mantle for 48th place on the career list. Delgado's blast also snapped his 14-game homerless streak.

Niese pitched well, but not enough to gain the victory which instead went to Bobby Parnell (1-0), who struck out two in a perfect eighth to earn the win. A victory's a victory, no matter who gets it (or however bad the team is you're playing)