DENVER (AP) – With Willie Randolph under pressure, the New York Mets finally ended their five-game skid with a 9-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.

New York general manager Omar Minaya made the holiday weekend trip to Colorado, leading to speculation that Randolph is under evaluation and his job could be in jeopardy.

David Wright hit his ninth homer of the season, and Carlos Beltran had a three-run double as part of a five-run first.

Nick Evans, making his major league debut, had three doubles and two RBIs and Claudio Vargas pitched seven solid innings. Vargas, throwing on three days rest, picked up his first win with the Mets. The right-hander went seven innings, giving up two runs and scattering four hits.

Duaner Sanchez and Pedro Feliciano pitched the last two frames, allowing only a walk while striking out one each.

Vargas (1-2) was let go by Milwaukee in late March and signed to a minor league deal by New York. His contract purchased by the team on May 13.

Braves 3, Diamondbacks 1

ATLANTA (AP) – Jeff Francoeur hit a game-ending, two-run homer off Chad Qualls in the ninth inning, and the Braves overcame a sparkling 10-strikeout performance by Randy Johnson to beat Arizona.

Johnson reached double-digits in strikeouts for the first time since May 20 last year against Pittsburgh and the 210th time overall, five behind Nolan Ryan’s record for games with 10 or more strikeouts. The Big Unit allowed one run, five hits and no walks in six innings.

With 4,663 strikeouts, Johnson needs nine to tie Roger Clemens for second place behind Ryan (5,714).

Atlanta has won seven of its last eight games while the Diamondbacks have lost five of six.

With the score 1-1 in the ninth, Chipper Jones walked against Doug Slaten (0-1) leading off, Mark Teixeira grounded out and Qualls relieved. Francoeur homered on his second pitch.

Blaine Boyer (1-3), Atlanta’s fourth pitcher, threw 1 2-3 hitless innings to complete a three-hitter.

Brewers 5, Nationals 2

WASHINGTON (AP) – Seth McClung was victorious in his first start in almost two years and Corey Hart and Mike Cameron homered to help the Brewers beat the Nationals.

Replacing ineffective Carlos Villanueva in the rotation, McClung (2-1) allowed two runs and four hits over five innings.

McClung checked the Nationals on one hit – a drag bunt single by Lastings Milledge in the second inning – through the first four innings. Villanueva pitched a scoreless sixth, Guillermo Mota worked two innings and Salomon Torres got the final three outs for his second save in four chances.

The Brewers had lost seven of nine games overall and dropped nine of 11 on the road.

John Lannon (4-5) took the loss.

Astros 4, Phillies 3

HOUSTON (AP) – Carlos Lee drove in three runs and the Houston Astros turned a dramatic double play to secure a victory over the Phillies.

The Phillies loaded the bases off Doug Brocail with one out in the ninth inning. Shane Victorino flew out to Darin Erstad in left and Erstad threw a perfect throw to catcher Brad Ausmus, who tagged out Pedro Feliz at the plate.

Brocail and Berkman embraced Ausmus as the crowd cheered and Erstad sprinted in from the outfield to join the celebration.

Brian Moehler (2-1) gave up four hits with three strikeouts in six innings.

The Astros scored all four runs off Philadelphia starter Brett Myers (2-6).

AP-ES-05-24-08 2216EDT