Expos 7, Mets 4

MONTREAL – Tony Batista homered and drove in two runs, and Nick Johnson hit a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth in leading the Montreal Expos to a 7-4 win over the New York Mets.

Brian Schneider had two RBIs for the Expos, who have won six of their last seven.

T.J. Tucker (1-1) allowed one hit in a scoreless two-thirds of an inning in relief of starter, and Luis Ayala pitched a perfect eighth to extend his shutout streak 33 1-3 innings. Chad Cordero got three outs for his 10th save in 11 opportunities.

Trailing 4-3 after blowing a three-run lead in the fifth, Montreal tied it in the bottom half when Endy Chavez followed Brad Wilkerson’s leadoff walk with an RBI triple to chase Jae Wong Seo (4-7).

Reliever Tyler Yates got two outs before Johnson put the Expos up 5-4 with a run-scoring double. Orlando Cabrera followed with Montreal’s second straight RBI double to make it 6-4.

Batista hit an RBI single as Montreal built a 3-0 lead in the fourth, and hit his third homer in four games to reach 60 RBIs in the seventh.

Mike Piazza played first base and went 0-for-3 with a walk for the Mets in his first start since spraining his wrist on July 20.

New York’s Jose Reyes was replaced by pinch-runner David Wright after hitting an RBI single with one out in the fifth. Reyes sprained his right ankle when his foot landed awkwardly as he approached second base while legging out a double in the third.

Chavez hit a leadoff double in the fourth to spark a three-run outburst for Montreal. One out later, Batista hit an RBI single to open the scoring and Johnson and Cabrera walked to load the bases.

Seo got Terrmel Sledge to fly to left before Schneider hit a two-run single to increase the Expos’ lead to 3-0.

The Mets came back with four in the fifth to take the lead, chasing starter Tony Armas Jr.

Vance Wilson drew a leadoff walk and advanced on Seo’s sacrifice. Reyes’ RBI single made it 3-1. Kaz Matsui singled to advance Wright, who ran for Reyes, and Piazza walked to load the bases.

Armas hit Cliff Floyd with a pitch to force in a run and manager Frank Robinson replaced Armas with Roy Corcoran.

Richard Hidalgo drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game and, one out later, Mike Cameron also walked to put the Mets up 4-3.

Tucker came in and struck out Wilson looking to end the threat.

Seo remained winless in eight games against Montreal, including six starts. He made his third appearance of the season against the Expos, and is 0-5 against them overall

Notes: Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson was ejected by plate umpire Tony Randazzo during a mound visit with Yates in the fifth. … Piazza grounded out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 4-2 win. … Ayala’s shutout streak is the longest by a Montreal reliever since John Wetteland pitched 25 consecutive scoreless innings in 1993.

AP-ES-07-28-04 2222EDT