| NEW YORK (AP) -- Carlos Beltran hit a bases-loaded triple and drove in five runs to back Johan Santana's first home win for the Mets, and New York beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-6 in the first game of a day-night doubleheader Saturday. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider hit New York's first back-to-back homers of the season, helping the Mets score 12 runs for the second consecutive game. David Wright broke out of a 1-for-13 slump with two hits and three runs. Moises Alou had two RBIs and the Mets began a seven-game homestand -- a day after rain postponed the opener -- against last-place teams with an all-around offensive effort despite being outhit by the Reds 15-12. Mets manager Willie Randolph started Santana in the opener instead of Mike Pelfrey, Friday's scheduled starter, because "I like to get my best going first", he said. Santana matched a career high by giving up 10 hits, though he never was in serious trouble until the sixth, when he needed 38 pitches to get out of the inning. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-5, missing his 598th home run by inches when he hit a drive off the top of the wall in the eighth inning for a two-run double. He and Brandon Phillips, who bruised his left calf Wednesday, were in the lineup to face Santana rather than play in the nightcap because Reds manager Dusty Baker said, "When you're a star you face stars." Baker said both players would start just one game. Santana (4-2) allowed Edwin Encarnacion's eighth homer in the fourth inning and scattered five other hits through five. But he gave up four hits in the sixth, including a leadoff triple to Phillips and RBI singles to Encarnacion and pinch-hitter Scott Hatteberg. Santana has allowed 10 hits in a game five times, most recently on Aug. 29 for the Twins at Cleveland. The left-hander walked one and struck out five. Alou scored the Mets' first run on Matt Belisle's wild pitch, and New York scored twice in the fifth to build a 6-1 lead after Belisle (1-3) committed a two-base throwing error on Luis Castillo's leadoff tapper. Beltran's triple off reliever Mike Lincoln in the sixth made it 10-3. The slugger had an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth for his first RBIs since April 26. Delgado homered off Lincoln with one out in the seventh, his fifth, and Schneider followed with his first of the season. After beginning the day with a .216 average, Delgado had three hits from the No. 7 spot in the order. It was the first time he batted that low since Sept. 30, 1995, with Toronto against the New York Yankees, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Belisle gave up six runs -- five earned -- and seven hits in five innings. Notes:@ The Mets and Reds last played a doubleheader on May 19, 1998, and the Mets won both games at Shea Stadium. ... Griffey hasn't homered in 55 at-bats. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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