Torre's return to NY spoiled by Mets

David Wright hit two home runs off Brad Penny and the New York Mets dampened Joe Torre's return home, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-4, last night. It was the Dodgers' fourth straight loss.

Always popular in town, Torre managed his first game in New York since parting ways with the Yankees last October. 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.

Wright drew two big ovations for his first multihomer game of the season and eighth of his career. He picked on a familiar victim, improving to 11-for-19 (.579) with four home runs and five walks against Penny (5-6).

Jeff Kent and Blake DeWitt homered in the fifth inning, pulling the Dodgers within 6-3. Mets starter Claudio Vargas (2-2) left in the sixth and James Loney met reliever Pedro Feliciano with an RBI single.

That was all for the Dodgers, who have lost six of seven and scored only 12 runs in that span.

In other games:

* At Phoenix, Randy Winn hit two home runs including the game-winner in the top of ninth inning, to lead San Francisco over Arizona, 4-3.

Diamondbacks starter Randy Johnson struck out nine batters in seven innings to tie Roger Clemens for second place on the career strikeout list with 4,672.

Nolan Ryan is the all-time leader with 5,714.

* At Milwaukee, starting pitcher Jorge Campillo had his first career hit to score two and Mark Teixeira homered and drove in four runs to lift Atlanta to an 8-1 victory over the Brewers.

Campillo (2-0) left after five innings when the callus on his right middle finger reopened. He said he'll need to work hard to make his next start.

* At San Diego, Jody Gerut hit a three-run homer with one out in the eighth inning to give the Padres a 5-2 win over Washington.

Trevor Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances, extending his big-league career record to 535.

* At Cincinnati, Jason Bay and Xavier Nady each had a homer and a double, leading Pittsburgh to a 7-2 victory that ended the Reds' home winning streak at nine games.

* At St. Louis, Kyle Lohse (5-2) carried a shutout into the seventh inning and Albert Pujols homered to cap a 6-for-10 series, helping the Cardinals beat Houston, 3-2.

* At Chicago, Alfonso Soriano's two-run single in the eighth capped a late charge for the Cubs, who scored five runs in the last two innings en route to an 8-4 win over Colorado.

* Atlanta outfielder Matt Diaz will be out at least a month after injuring his left knee attempting to make a catch in Tuesday night's game in Milwaukee.

* Cincinnati sent righthander Matt Belisle to Triple A Louisville to pitch in relief, a role he had 2 years ago. Righthander Josh Fogg moves back into the rotation.

* St. Louis lefthander Mark Mulder said he will most likely not rejoin the team after the All-Star break. Mulder has had two recent cortisone injections in his twice surgically repaired left shoulder, the last on Wednesday, in an effort to free up the joint.

* Houston added its second recently released pitcher in 2 days, signing lefthander Ray King to a minor league contract. King, 34, was released by Washington on April 29. The Astros signed righthander Jorge Sosa, cut loose by the New York Mets, to a minor league deal on Wednesday.

* Pittsburgh recalled righthander Bryan Bullington, the No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft, from Triple A Indianapolis. *