NL East Wrap: Hairston's homer sparks Mets

Mets 5, Giants 2

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The New York Mets enjoyed nothing more than quieting baseball's most boisterous, bold and, certainly, bearded closer.

All it took was one swing.

Pinch-hitter Scott Hairston hit a tiebreaking home run off All-Star Brian Wilson in the ninth inning, leading the Mets past the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Friday night.

Hairston admitted he was more concerned with staying focused on the pitch than the closer's bushy, black beard. He even joked that Wilson's off-the-field antics often crack him up and the chance to face him was a moment he relished.

"When the music comes on and he comes in and the fans get excited, as a player, you're adrenaline kicks in," Hairston said. "I love being in that situation. It's a lot of fun."

Hairston opened the ninth by sending a full-count pitch from Wilson (6-2) over the wall in left field for his fourth home run of the season. Carlos Beltran and Nick Evans added RBIs in the inning to help New York to its fifth win in six games.

Mets manager Terry Collins couldn't recall a more raucous celebration in the dugout this season than after Hairston's homer. With injuries sidelining stars Jose Reyes and David Wright, perhaps they had good reason to run wild.

"I don't think there's any question we're exceeding expectations," Collins said.

Nate Schierholtz tied the score in the sixth with a solo shot into McCovey Cove and drove in San Francisco's only other run with a sacrifice fly.

Reliever Pedro Beato (2-1) earned the win, and Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save.

Wilson kept his cool and refrained from tossing a water cooler or smashing it with a baseball bat, as he did when he blew a save at Detroit last week and went into meltdown mode. He was charged with two runs and only recorded one out in his third straight day of work.

"Sure he gives up the home run and people think he should have had a day (off)," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "If he wasn't on his third day, I would have let him stay out there and try to pitch his way out of it."

Marlins 6, Astros 3

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MIAMI -- Hanley Ramirez and Javier Vazquez are recovering from rough starts and helping the Florida Marlins build a modest winning streak.

Ramirez continued his recent torrid hitting with three hits and three RBIs and Vazquez pitched seven solid innings as the Marlins defeated the Houston Astros 6-3 on Friday night.

"When you go through those moments you just have to fight and fight," Ramirez said of his early season struggles. "I wasn't feeling anything at home plate. I was a different guy."

Ramirez is hitting .448 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in July.

Vazquez (5-8) settled down after a rough first inning and in one stretch, retired 16 of 18 hitters. He allowed two runs and six hits, struck out four and walked none.

Over his last five starts, Vazquez has allowed four earned runs in 30 1-3 innings, struck out 19 and walked three for a 1.19 ERA.

"I'm staying more aggressive, just pounding the strike zone," Vazquez said. "That's what I have to keep doing. Mix up my pitches."

The Marlins won a third consecutive game for the first time since a three-game sweep of San Francisco in May. Florida began its streak with Mike Stanton's walkoff home run in a 7-6 win over Philadelphia on Wednesday and extended it in the first two games of the current four-game series against the Astros.

"I told you guys, when we beat the Phillies in that walkoff, that was going to be our rhythm," Ramirez said. "Everything has been working."

The loss was the Astros' 12th in their last 14 games.

"Javier was able to shut us down and we were really kind of sporadic about getting baserunners," Houston manager Brad Mills said.

Astros rookie Jordan Lyles remained winless after his seventh major league start. Lyles (0-4) pitched six innings and allowed five runs, seven hits, walked three and struck out three.

"I missed a lot of spots today with everything," Lyles said. "I didn't have my stuff. That's not an excuse but I've got to battle a little bit better than I did tonight."

Rockies 3, Nationals 2

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WASHINGTON -- After winning once in 12 starts, Jason Hammel knew he had to do something different. So he changed two things.

The Colorado Rockies starter came out to the mound wearing stirrups and his pants pulled high in the style of teammate Ubaldo Jimenez. More importantly, Hammel made a change in his delivery at the suggestion of pitching coach Bob Apodaca, a switch the right-hander credited for his strong performance in a 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.

Between starts, Hammel (5-8) and Apodaca worked on Hammel's windup, adding a move in which Hammel brings his hands above his head. That gave Hammel a more consistent rhythm and better command of his fastball.

"I needed to change something up," Hammel said. "I was in this rut where a lot of games we should have won when I was on the mound we didn't, and other games I wasn't even showing up."

Hammel allowed two runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings for his second win since April 30. Colorado snapped a five-game losing streak and won for the first time in eight road games.

"You forget what it feels like sometimes," said reliever Matt Reynolds, who replaced Hammel in the seventh and didn't allow a baserunner. "Get a good start, good defense, enough offense. It's a formula we'd like to keep going."

All three Rockies runs came in the fourth. Todd Helton scored on a balk and Ty Wigginton and Cole Garner each had a run-scoring single.

Nationals starter John Lannan (5-6) retired his first 10 batters -- striking out five -- but had his outing cut short when Wigginton's liner up the middle hit him on the nose.

Jonathan Herrera singled in the fourth, the first Colorado hitter to reach base. Helton and Wigginton followed with consecutive singles off Lannan. Herrera scored on Wigginton's hit, a shot that deflected off Lannan's glove and struck him in the face.

Lannan walked off the field to the dugout with the aid of a trainer after the play and was replaced by Ryan Mattheus. The team said Lannan had a nasal contusion and is day to day.

"It's the manager's worst nightmare," Nationals skipper Davey Johnson said. "Very fortunate it didn't do a lot of damage. That ball was smoked."

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