HOUSTON — Carlos Beltran spent a lot of time catching fly balls on the hill in center field when he played for the Houston Astros.

Last night, all that work three years ago paid off as Beltran made a saving, circus catch before hitting the go-ahead single in the 17th inning of the New York Mets' 5-3 win over Houston.

"When I was in Houston I took flies with (first base coach) Chao (Jose) Cruz almost every day, working on that hill," Beltran said. "You work on that, but you don't know if it's going to happen in the game."

It was the Mets' longest game since 1993 and the 17 innings matched the most in the majors this season — the Dodgers and Padres also played that many in April.

Houston threatened to win it in the 14th, putting a runner on third with two outs. Luke Scott launched a long drive to center field and Beltran ran up the grass hill and caught the ball while falling down.

PADRES 8, BRAVES 5: Milton Bradley scored on an error to break a 5-all tie and Kevin Kouzmanoff's two-run single capped a three-run seventh as host San Diego beat Atlanta.

Cubs 7, Pirates 1: Ted Lilly (8-4) won his fourth decision in a row, allowing a run and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings, and Alfonso Soriano had three hits to lead visiting Chicago past Pittsburgh for its 12th victory in 15 games.

Reds 5, Diamondbacks 4: After Eric Byrnes' three-run homer off reliever Todd Coffey tied it in the top of the eighth, Norris Hopper singled home the tiebreaking run in bottom half of the inning to rally Cincinnati.

Nationals 5, Brewers 4: Austin Kearns' two-run double capped a four-run bottom of the fifth, and Jason Simontacchi (6-6) allowed eight hits and three runs — on three solo homers — in six innings for Washington.

Giants 7, Cardinals 6: Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with two walks, but Randy Winn hit a two-run single and San Francisco scored three unearned runs in the top of the seventh to beat St. Louis.

Rockies 6, Phillies 3: Ryan Spilborghs hit a two-run homer, Todd Helton drove in two runs and host Colorado handed Philadelphia its 9,999th loss in franchise history.

Marlins 7, Dodgers 2: Hanley Ramirez had four hits, Miguel Cabrera and Josh Willingham homered in the fourth inning, and Sergio Mitre (3-4) won for the first time since May 20 as visiting Florida beat Los Angeles.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ANGELS 2, YANKEES 1: Fill-in first baseman Miguel Cairo made a fielding error and a throwing error on a ground ball in the top of the 13th inning, allowing Howie Kendrick to score from second as Los Angeles beat New York.

Royals 8, Devil Rays 7: Mark Grudzielanek's two-out single off Shawn Camp scored Tony Pena Jr. from third base in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Kansas City over Tampa Bay.

Mariners 4, Athletics 0: Felix Hernandez (5-4) allowed two hits over eight innings, George Sherrill pitched a perfect ninth, and Adrian Beltre hit a three-run homer in the top of the third inning to lead Seattle past Oakland.

Indians 9, Blue Jays 4: Casey Blake hit a three-run homer and Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore and Trot Nixon also went deep to power visiting Cleveland over Toronto.

White Sox 3, Twins 1: Mark Buehrle (6-4) scattered six hits over eight shutout innings and Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer as host Chicago beat Minnesota, which score a run in the ninth off Bobby Jenks.

Orioles 3, Rangers 0: Erik Bedard (7-4) struck out 15 to tie a franchise record and allowed two hits in his first career shutout while facing the minimum 27 batters, and Jay Gibbons homered to lead visiting Baltimore over Texas.

Tigers 3, Red Sox 2: Ivan Rodriguez's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 13th inning lifted Detroit over Boston, which left 12 runners on base and didn't score after two first-inning runs.