Heilman Pitches In for the Mets

Aaron Heilman threw one pitch here and the next one there, working in and out with movement and location, showing the kind of quality the New York Mets have hoped for from the right-hander.

That was the formula for a brilliant one-hitter Friday night as Heilman outpitched Josh Beckett and shut out the Florida Marlins, 4-0, at Shea Stadium.

He got help from Mike Piazza, who broke out of a slump with two doubles and three runs batted in to send the Mets to their fifth consecutive victory after an 0-5 start.

“It was just an outstanding job by Aaron,” Manager Willie Randolph said. “He kept the ball down. He had location and movement. He threw a great game. When the ball moves like that, you get lots of groundballs.”

And only one hit -- Luis Castillo’s infield single in the fourth inning.

Heilman (1-1) dominated the Marlins in by far the best performance of his brief career. Drafted 18th overall in 2001 out of Notre Dame, Heilman has been a big disappointment for the Mets -- he came in with a 3-11 record in 20 major league outings.

In fact, he was supposed to begin the season in the minors, but he was called up because right-hander Kris Benson is on the disabled list.

As good as Heilman’s performance was, the Mets had to be just as encouraged by Piazza. He doubled twice off Beckett, who did not give up a run in his first two starts.

Piazza drove in two runs on a fifth-inning double after Marlin first baseman Carlos Delgado made two errors on one play.

Miguel Cairo walked with one out and Delgado booted Carlos Beltran’s grounder and then threw the ball over Beckett’s head as the pitcher covered first for a second error, allowing Cairo to reach third base. Piazza followed with a double into the left-field corner, scoring both runs.

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Houston 11, Cincinnati 2 -- Jason Lane homered twice, driving in a career-high five runs at Cincinnati, and Roy Oswalt improved to 13-0 against the Reds. The Astros won their 12th in a row against the Reds, a streak that began last July 31.

Oswalt gave up five hits in seven innings, joining Pedro Martinez as the only pitchers in the majors to go 13-0 against an opponent. Martinez has won all of his decisions against the Seattle Mariners.

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San Francisco 13, Colorado 6 -- Pedro Feliz hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs and the Giants won their first road game after opening with consecutive losses at Dodger Stadium.

The Rockies weren’t any better at Coors Field after one of the worst trips (0-6) in franchise history, extending their losing streak to eight games since a season-opening victory over the San Diego Padres.

Noah Lowry (1-0) gave up nine hits and six runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first start at Coors Field, remaining undefeated in 16 career starts because the Giants staked him to an eight-run lead by the fourth inning.

The former Pepperdine standout became the sixth pitcher to start his career 7-0 since divisional play began in 1969.

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Pittsburgh 8, Chicago 5 -- The Pirates roughed up Carlos Zambrano for five runs after barely scoring against him last season, then used Bobby Hill’s tie-breaking two-run double in the eighth inning to rally past the Cubs at Pittsburgh.

Backup catcher David Ross homered twice against Zambrano to help the Pirates win for the first time in three home games.

Zambrano gave up five runs over six-plus innings. He yielded only four runs in 35 innings while going 5-0 against the Pirates in 2004, becoming the first to beat them five times in a season since Hall of Famer Tom Seaver in 1973.

Ross, picked up by the Pirates from the Dodgers for $75,000 during the last week of spring training, drove in three runs.

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St. Louis 3, Milwaukee 0 -- Jeff Suppan took a five-hitter into the ninth inning at Milwaukee to lead the Cardinals.

Suppan (1-1) earned his third consecutive victory at Miller Park. He entered with a 7-2 career record in 11 appearances against the Brewers. He gave up only two hits after the third inning, both to Brady Clark. Suppan struck out three and walked two in 8 1/3 innings.

Jason Isringhausen got the last two outs for his third save.

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Atlanta 11, Philadelphia 4 -- Raul Mondesi and Rafael Furcal each hit two home runs and Adam LaRoche hit a two-run shot to lead the Braves at Philadelphia.

For Mondesi, a former rookie of the year with the Dodgers, it was his 20th career multihomer game.

Manager Bobby Cox earned victory No. 2,008, tying him with Leo Durocher for eighth place all time.