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MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Mike Piazza did not survive the first inning. Luckily for the New York Mets, Glendon Rusch did. Rusch bounced back from his shortest start of the season with 7 2/3 solid innings as the Mets took advantage of control problems by Tony Armas Jr. and kept alive their remote playoff hopes with a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Expos. Rusch (8-10) did not miss a beat after losing his batterymate early. Piazza, the Mets' All-Star catcher, suffered a contusion on his right thumb after taking a foul ball off the bat of Mike Mordecai on the fourth pitch of the game. "It kind of caught me in a weird spot because the feeling went out of it for about five or 10 minutes. It felt like it was asleep," Piazza said. "It wasn't much circulation for a while. Then the feeling came back. We got a picture just to be sure, but the doctor looked at it and he thought it was all right. ... So I see it being maybe another day at most." In improving to 5-0 lifetime against Montreal, Rusch gave up two runs and eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts. A week ago, the inconsistent lefthander surrendered two runs and five hits and was yanked after 1 2/3 innings in a 9-2 victory at Pittsburgh. "I was definitely as focused as I could be today to come out and have a good outing," Rusch said. "Like I said before, it's do or die right now. When you get a chance to contribute, you do everything you can. I think if anything, my last outing I wasn't mentally on top of my game. And that hurts." Leadoff batter Matt Lawton had two hits and was one of five Mets to drive in a run. New York has won 17 of its last 20 but remained four games behind first-place Atlanta in the National League East with 10 to play. Armas (9-13) walked four in a two-run first and ended up allowing all five runs and seven hits in six innings. He totaled five walks and six strikeouts and has won just once in 13 starts since July 14. "He had good stuff, but he lost his rhythm and his timing a little bit in the first inning," Expos manager Jeff Torborg said. "He had a great warmup, he just couldn't locate the ball in the first. All of a sudden, he couldn't find his release point. "To his credit, he got back. Unfortunately, he threw so many pitches early that he was kind of blown out a little near the end. As strong as he is, after five innings he was in the 90s in pitches." Lawton got things started with a leadoff walk in the first and moved up on a wild pitch. Edgardo Alfonzo and Robin Ventura walked around a strikeout by Piazza and a walk to Tsuyoshi Shinjo forced in the game's only run. Todd Zeile also struck out, but Jay Payton came through with a single to make it 2-0. Montreal got back a run in the bottom half but could have had more. An error by second baseman Alfonzo halved the deficit, but Orlando Cabrera lined into a double play and Geoff Blum grounded out. "I think tonight I felt better," Rusch said. "My stuff was better. My command was there. I made a couple of bad pitches in key spots in the first inning and they hit them hard. But I felt better as far as what I had out there tonight." The Expos threatened again in the second, getting a runner to second with one out before Rusch fanned Peter Bergeron and Armas. Rookie Vance Wilson, Piazza's replacement, led off the third with a single and scored on Zeile's two-out double to make it 3-1. The Mets padded their lead in the sixth as Rusch laid down a squeeze bunt to score Zeile and Lawton singled in Rey Ordonez to make it 5-1. Rick White replaced Rusch with two out and two on in the eighth but surrendered an RBI single to Blum. Shinjo picked up his 12th outfield assist of the season by nailing Orlando Cabrera at the plate even though replays showed Cabrera slid in under Wilson's tag. "I can't believe they sent the guy because Shinjo was kind of in. And with that kind of arm, I was really shocked, especially on turf, that they sent him," Wilson said. Armando Benitez struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 42nd save in 45 chances.
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