Mike Piazza capped one of the most emotional nights in Shea Stadium history by hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning as the New York Mets rallied for a 3-2 win Friday over the faltering Atlanta Braves. 
The first major sports event in New York since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center drew 41,235 to Shea Stadium, which served as a staging area for rescue workers only a week earlier. 
The crowd roared after a rousing rendition of "God Bless America" by Diana Ross, again after Marc Anthony sang the national anthem and a third time after Mayor Rudolph Giuliani arrived at the ballpark. 
Liza Minnelli again brought the crowd to its feet by performing her trademark "New York, New York" during the seventh-inning stretch. But nothing compared to the reaction after Piazza sent an 0-1 pitch from Queens native Steve Karsay over the center-field fence to put the Mets ahead for the first time. 
"I really don't know what to say," Piazza said. "I'm so happy I gave something. There was a lot of emotion. ... I'm just so proud to be part of this tonight. It's so cool. 
"There are so many emotions. It's really tough to put into perspective. All I can say is these people are great. New York has been so strong throughout this. ... We just want to stay positive. This is what America is all about -- coming together." 
Both teams exchanged hugs and handshakes before the game, but the emotions were decidedly different at the end as Karsay was ejected following a confrontation with Mets third base coach John Stearns at the end of the eighth inning. 
Piazza's 34th home run made a winner of closer Armando Benitez , who gave up a go-ahead RBI double to Brian Jordan in the top of the eighth but worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth, retiring Keith Lockhart on a game-ending double play. 
More importantly, the blast lifted New York within 4 1/2 games of first-place Atlanta in the National League East. The Philadelphia Phillies are just one-half game behind the Braves, who have lost four of five. 
Brian Hunter's bases-loaded bouncer up the middle in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the surging Philadelphia Phillies a 1-0 victory Friday over the visiting Florida Marlins. 
Marlon Anderson -- who nearly dropped a pop-up that ended the top of the inning -- led off with a single and raced to third on a single by Pat Burrell off Vladimir Nunez . 
Travis Lee was intentionally walked to load the bases and pinch hitter Felipe Crespo's fly to right field was too short to score Anderson. But with the infield drawn in, Hunter bounced a 2-1 pitch over Nunez's head and into the outfield. 
The hit was just the sixth for Philadelphia and made a winner of Jose Mesa , who worked into and out of trouble in the top half. 
The Phillies won the first three games of their four-game set with Atlanta and had a chance to reclaim first place in the National League East Division but dropped the series finale, ending their five-game winning streak. 
Philadelphia notched its 23rd one-run win and moved within one game of first-place Atlanta, which has won nine consecutive division titles. 
The National League wild card chase may be tight, but Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals continues to make the NL Rookie of the Year race a landslide. 
Pujols capped his second five-RBI game of the week with a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning, giving the visiting Cardinals their eighth straight win, 9-5 over the reeling Pittsburgh Pirates. 
A virtual lock as the NL's top rookie, Pujols is showing no signs of slowing down as the season draws to a close. He drove in a career-high five runs Tuesday and matched that figure Friday while tying an NL rookie record with his 82nd extra-base hit. With the score tied, 5-5, former Cardinal Omar Olivares came on to start the ninth. He surrendered a leadoff single to Miguel Cairo, who was sacrificed to second by Craig Paquette. Placido Polanco singled to shallow right field and J.D. Drew walked before Pujols lined a 1-1 pitch into the left-field bleachers. 
It was his first career grand slam, 36th homer of the season and moved him past San Francisco's Barry Bonds into fourth place in the NL with 125 RBI. It also made a winner of Luther Hackman , who struck out one in a scoreless inning. 
St. Louis moved three games ahead of the Chicago Cubs in the wild card race and has taken 10 of 12 meetings with Pittsburgh this season. 
