ter his displeasure with the umpires.Its tough when you

NEW YORK -- Bartolo Colon and the New York Mets are beginning to play much better. Now they need to start gaining some ground in the standings.Wilmer Flores launched a grand slam, Asdrubal Cabrera homered from both sides of the plate and even Colon had two helpful hits while pitching the third-place Mets to a 9-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.Jose Reyes and Cabrera opened the Mets half of the first inning with consecutive home runs, just the second time the franchise has accomplished that feat. But the defending NL champions (65-63) remained 3 1/2 games behind St. Louis in a crowded race for the leagues second wild card.Weve still got things weve got to make sure we address and stay on top of, Mets manager Terry Collins said. Its not all a cakewalk from here on out.The 43-year-old Colon (12-7) carried a two-hitter into the eighth and took over the team lead in wins as New York began a pivotal 10-game homestand by winning for the fifth time in its past six.The only other time he got two hits in a game was in August 2002 with the Montreal Expos against Milwaukee.Colon just seems to own us, Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. We cant square the ball up off of him.The pudgy pitcher lashed two sharp hits that delighted the crowd, a leadoff double in the fifth and a line-drive single in the sixth. He scored both times, first ahead of Flores third career slam and then in front of Cabreras second homer of the night.The switch-hitting shortstop became the first Mets player to go deep from both sides in one game since Carlos Beltran at Colorado on May 12, 2011.Its not easy, but Im excited that happened, Cabrera said.A tiring Colon gave up four straight hits to start the eighth but walked off the mound to a warm ovation and acknowledged the crowd by patting his glove and pointing two fingers.It means a lot. It took me back to my Cleveland days, when it was a sellout every time I went on the mound, and we feed off the energy, Colon said through a translator.Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan (1-8) gave up two homers on his first five pitches but recovered. He was trailing 2-1 when Neil Walker, just back from the paternity leave list after the birth of a baby girl, worked a nine-pitch walk to load the bases with two outs in the fifth.Flores reached down and lofted the next delivery over the fence in left-center. He was summoned out of the dugout for a curtain call.It feels good, Flores said. They make you feel good every time you do something special.Morgan, who has dropped eight straight decisions, allowed eight hits and struck out eight in five innings. He was fortunate to avoid a serious injury, too, when he barely ducked out of the way of Yoenis Cespedes screaming line drive.Morgan, hit by a line drive earlier this season, spun around and crouched in front of the mound as he caught his breath. The crowd let out a trio of collective groans as the big video board showed three replays of the ball whizzing just above Morgans head.I just know that Im learning. I see improvements. Sure, the home runs and the numbers will tell you different, but I see improvements, Morgan said.CHART CLIMBINGWith his 230th career win, Colon passed Luis Tiant for third-most by a pitcher born in Latin America. Dennis Martinez had 245 and Juan Marichal finished with 243.START ME UPThe only other time the first two Mets hitters homered was in July 2007 when Reyes and Ruben Gotay connected against Cincinnati. Not long before Reyes went deep Friday night, Gotay homered for the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League. ... Reyes hit his 23rd career leadoff homer and 18th with the Mets, tying teammate Curtis Granderson for the club record.TRAINERS ROOMMets: CF Justin Ruggiano struck out twice and then left in the sixth with left shoulder discomfort. He was replaced by Alejandro De Aza, who drew a leadoff walk to start a three-run sixth. ... RF Jay Bruce struck out all four times, drawing boos from the home crowd. Bruce was back in the lineup after missing Thursday nights victory in St. Louis. He left Wednesday nights game with cramping in his right calf.UP NEXTPhillies RHP Jeremy Hellickson (10-7, 3.60 ERA) starts the middle game of the series Saturday night against Noah Syndergaard (11-7, 2.61). Hellickson, set to make his fourth start this season against the Mets, has won four consecutive decisions overall and six of his last seven. Syndergaard, who is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA in three career starts against Philadelphia, is coming off eight scoreless innings of two-hit ball at San Francisco on Sunday. Dan Hamhuis Predators Jersey .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Calle Jarnkrok Predators Jersey . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. 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TORONTO -- Edwin Encarnacion advanced Toronto to the AL Division Series in the Blue Jays familiar manner -- with a big home run.Encarnacion hit a three-run drive in the 11th inning off Ubaldo Jimenez , and Toronto beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 in Tuesday nights AL wild card game to advance to a Division Series matchup against old foe Texas.It was a very special moment and a very special opportunity, Encarnacion said through a translator.Jose Bautista also homered for the Blue Jays , who open the Division Series on Tuesday at Texas. Encarnacions homer brought back memories of the tiebreaking, three-run shot that Bautista hit in the seventh inning of Game 5 of last years AL Division Series win over the Rangers, a shot punctuated by a memorable bat flip.And the Blue Jays won their last World Series title in 1993 on Joe Carters walkoff home run .I was looking for a fastball and I was trying to put the barrel on it, get a little bit in front because the infield was playing in, and I actually got it, Encarnacion said through a translator.Jimenez relieved Brian Duensing with one out in the 11th, and Devon Travis singled in a 1-1 pitch. Reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson singled on the next pitch, and Travis went all the way to third as left fielder Nolan Reimold bobbled the ball.Encarnacion sent the following pitch, a 91 mph offering, soaring into the second deck in left. Encarnacion immediately knew it was gone and raised both arms in triumph, index fingers pointed skyward.The crowd of 49,934 chanted Eddie, Eddie! as Encarnacion circled the bases before being greeted by a mob of teammates. Encarnacion matched his career-best with 42 home runs in the regular season.Jimenez said he was trying to throw a low slider and induce a double play.It didnt do anything, Jimenez said. It stayed up.Orioles closer Zach Britton, who was perfect in 47 save chances during the regular season, never got in the game.Nobody has been pitching better for us than Ubaldo, Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said . It didnt work out.Britton warmed up three times but didnt leave the bullpen.Its frustrating but its not my call, Britton said. It was just frustrating to have to sit there and watch.Francisco Liriano retired five straight batters on four groundouts and a strikeout for the win after closer Roberto Osuna left with a sore shoulder .The doctor told me that I was going to be fine, I just need a couple of days, Osuna said. Ive been pitching a lot lately. Theey think its just fatigue from the last couple of weeks.ddddddddddddToronto beat Texas in five-game Division Series, sparked by Bautistas memorable homer. The teams brawled in May this year when Bautista was punched in the face by Rangers infielder Rougned Odor following a play at second base.Its going to be a very interesting series, and were looking forward to it, Encarnacion said.The roof was open at Rogers Centre, formerly SkyDome, where all 24 previous postseason games had been played with it closed.Bautista led off the second against Chris Tillman with his fifth postseason homer. Mark Trumbo, who led the major leagues with 47 home runs, gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead in the fourth with a two-run homer off Marcus Stroman .Ezequiel Carreras RBI single chased Tillman in the fifth.When Toronto pinch-hitter Melvin Upton Jr. flied out to the warning track in left field to end the seventh, Orioles outfielder Hyun Soo Kim was nearly struck by a can that was thrown from the stands. Center fielder Adam Jones angrily gestured toward the seats, and Showalter came out to register his displeasure with the umpires.Its tough when you have that many people in the ballpark and one person does something that reflects poorly on all of them, Showalter said. It can happen in any ballpark. I dont like anything that puts our guys in harms way.Blue Jays fans tossed bottles and debris on the field during game 5 against Texas last year, upset at the call that let Odor score from third after catcher Russell Martins throw back to the mound deflected off Shin Soo Choos bat.Jones wasnt as diplomatic as his manager.That is about as pathetic as it gets, he said. I hope they find the guy and press charges.Blue Jays spokesman Erik Grosman said the fan was not ejected because he took off before police had a chance to get him. Police are investigating.FOR STARTERSStroman allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, struck out six and walked none. Tillman gave up two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings.WEB GEMKevin Pillar made a diving catch on Manny Machados liner to right-center in the fourth .EXTRA, EXTRA!This was the second extra-inning wild card game. Kansas City rallied to beat Oakland 9-8 in 12 innings in 2014.ROBBIEHall of Famer Roberto Alomar, who starred for the Blue Jays and Orioles, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ' ' '