Torre loses in return

David Wright delivered 2 huge hits. Pitcher Claudio Vargas took a big swing, too -- off the catcher's mitt.

Wright hit 2 more home runs off Brad Penny and the newly inspired New York Mets dampened Joe Torre's return home, taking advantage of a rare catcher's interference call to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 on Thursday night in New York.

The Mets won their third in a row and sent the Dodgers to their fourth straight loss.

"A three-game winning streak, we'll take that. Back to .500, that's what we want to push from," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We've got to sustain it. We've been up and down."

Always popular in town, Torre managed his first game in New York since parting ways with the Yankees last October after 12 winning seasons. Many fans in the crowd of 52,886 at Shea Stadium stood and cheered when he made a pitching change in the seventh inning, and Torre waved and doffed his cap while walking back to the dugout.

"That made me feel good. Considering the game, it made me feel good," Torre said. "It was nice. The fact that I started it here. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but I look at the calendar, and it was."

Torre saw something else strange in the fourth inning with the Mets leading 2-0.

The Mets had two outs and none on when Vargas apparently grounded out -- it looked so routine, Vargas basically stopped jogging halfway down the line and the Dodgers began to run off the field.

"I knew something was funky about it," Randolph said.

He was right.

Catcher Russell Martin was called for tipping Vargas' bat, and the career .082 hitter was awarded first base.

"Sometimes you hear it, sometimes you see it, sometimes you do both. I could see it and I heard it. It was pretty clear," plate umpire Bill Welke said. "Once or twice a year."

Martin "was mad. He banged his glove on his thigh. Body language helps tell you what's going on, too," Welke said.

Said Vargas: "First time I've gotten on base this year. It's like I had to cheat or something."

The Mets took full advantage as Jose Reyes followed with a single, Luis Castillo hit an RBI double and Wright connected for his 11th homer and a 6-0 lead.

Pirates 7, Reds 2: Jason Bay and Xavier Nady each had a homer and a double to help visiting Pittsburgh snap the Reds' home winning streak at nine games.

The Reds couldn't extend their best home winning streak in 28 years because they couldn't do anything against Phil Dumatrait (2-2). The left-hander allowed 1 unearned run and 2 hits in 7 innings, beating the team that let him get away last October.

Braves 8, Brewers 1: Mark Teixeira homered and drove in 4 runs, and reliever-turned-starter Jorge Campillo's first career hit scored 2 more to lift visiting Atlanta. Chipper Jones went 2-for-4 with 2 walks to raise his major-league-leading average to .420 and help the Braves avoid being swept for the third time this season.

Cardinals 3, Astros 2: Kyle Lohse carried a shutout into the seventh inning, and Albert Pujols homered to cap a 6-for-10 series, helping the St. Louis beat visiting Houston.

Chris Duncan has a 2-run single with the bases loaded in the first for the Cardinals.

Padres 5, Nationals 2: Jody Gerut hit a 3-run homer with one out in the eighth inning to help host San Diego take two of three in a matchup of last-place teams.

American League

Twins 5, Royals 1: Kevin Slowey pitched a 6-hitter, and Carlos Gomez had 4 hits and 2 RBI to send punchless Kansas City to its 11th loss in a row. The 11-game skid is the longest in the majors this year and Kansas City's worst since a 13-game skid May 12-25, 2006.

After the team's 10th straight loss Wednesday, Jose Guillen, who signed a three-year, $36 million free-agent contract last winter, blasted unnamed teammates and challenged them to "learn to play this game right."

"Too many babies in here," he said, spicing each comment with obscenities. "They don't know how to play the game and how to win games. Now I know why this organization has been losing for a while. Now I know."

Blue Jays 12, Athletics 0: Jesse Litsch (7-1) won his fifth straight decision and extended his scoreless streak to 16 innings, and Rod Barajas had 3 doubles and drove in 3 runs for visiting Toronto.