D'Backs Rout Reed, Mets

May 9, 1999 / 8:22 PM EDT / CBS/AP

There was no high drama for Luis Gonzalez and his hitting streak Sunday. One pitch in the first inning was all he needed.

Gonzalez, who barely kept the streak alive Saturday with a single in the ninth, hit his first pitch Sunday into the right field stands for a three-run homer. He extended his team-record streak to 22 games as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 11-6.

"I know it's going to end sooner or later," he said, "but it's fun while it lasts."

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Among those watching were his mother and his wife, who gave birth to triplet last June.

"It was nice today," Gonzalez said. "I had my mom here from Florida and it was my wife's first Mother's Day. I put all three of the triplets in bed with her this morning and gave her a Mother's Day gift so it was a special morning for us, and it was nice to get a win too."

Jay Bell and Steve Finley also homered for Arizona, which leads the majors in home runs with 49.

Gonzalez, who came to Arizona from Detroit for Karim Garcia, was 2-for-3 with a double and a sacrifice fly. He had four RBIs and lifted his batting average to .388 as the Diamondbacks took two of three from New York.

"He's the type of guy where it doesn't surprise you that he puts a hitting streak together," manager Buck Showalter said. "He's a very fundamentally sound hitter."

Gonzalez's hitting streak, by far the longest in the majors this season, is just one short of John Olerud's 23-game streak that was the best in the NL last year.

Olerud, meanwhile, saw his streak of reaching base safely end at 47 games when he struck out as a pinch hitter for the final out of the game. He was the only pinch-hit option left on the bench for Mets manager Bobby Valentine.

"It's just one of those things," Olerud said. "It had to end sooner or later. I'll just try to get another streak started. "

Gonzalez' eighth homer, his second in three days against the Mets, followed Tony Womack's leadoff single and Bell's double.

Mets starter Rick Reed (2-1) lasted just 1 2-3 innings, giving up eight runand seven hits. Reed was in his second start since returning from the disabled list with a torn calf muscle.

"It was just one of those days," he said. "It was the best I've felt all year, believe it or not. We all have days like this. It happened tome last year in Chicago and right after I started pitching pretty good knock on wood."

Arizona scored six runs in the second inning to go ahead 9-0, capping the outburst with Finley's three-run homer off Rigo Beltran, called up Friday when Rickey Henderson was placed on the disabled list.

Bell's second home run in as many days and 11th of the season came off Josias Manzanillo in the sixth.

Omar Daal (3-3), who lost his previous three starts, gave up three runs and eights hits in 5 2-3 innings, striking out four and walking five.

Travis Lee and Kelly Stinnett led off the second with singles, Daal sacrificed and Womack singled home Lee. Bell walked, loading the bases, and Gonzalez drove in Stinnett with a sacrifice fly. Matt Williams had an RBI single and Reed was finished.

Finley, the first batter Beltran faced, homered to right on a 3-1 pitch to complete the big inning.

Jermaine Allensworth and Mike Piazza were 3-for-4 with home runs for New York, it was Allensworth's first and Piazza's fourth. Mike Kinkade hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Greg Swindell.

Notes: The Diamondbacks tied a club record with four double plays. ... During batting practice, Piazza hit the reader board in center field, at least a 500-foot drive. Moments later, the board read "Mike Please Don't Hurt Me." ... Arizona scored 25 runs on 28 hits in its two victories over the Mets. ... Every Diamondbacks starter had a hit by the third inning. ... Gonzalez is the sixth active player who has had two hitting streaks of 20 games or longer. His 23-game streak with Houston in 1997 tied the Astros team record. ... The eight runs were the most ever allowed by Reed and the 1 2-3 innings he pitched tied his career shortest appearance. ... New York is 2-4 halfway through a 12-game road trip. ... The Diamondbacks are 10-3 at home.