NEW YORK -- Mets starter Dillon Gee called it the hottest game hes pitched in all year. And on a muggy afternoon at Citi Field, a boost from the bench was just what New York needed to cool off the Phillies. Anthony Recker snapped a sixth-inning tie with a three-run homer in a rare start, and the Mets held off Philadelphia 6-5 Sunday to avoid dropping into last place. "Anytime you get a chance to play, you just want to contribute," Recker said. "Weve got a few guys on the bench that havent been seeing a lot of time, so when we get our chance we really want to be able to do our part." Wilmer Flores had three hits and made two sparkling defensive plays at shortstop in the final two innings to help New York hang on. By taking two of three in the series, the Mets kept Philadelphia in the NL East cellar. Gee (6-6) pitched effectively into the seventh inning, and New York finished 13-6 against the Phillies this season. Domonic Brown homered and had a career-high four hits for Philadelphia, which had won seven of nine. He grounded out with a runner on to end it. Ryan Howard also went deep for the Phillies. Recker, a backup catcher who had not played since Aug. 19 in Oakland, lined the first pitch he saw from A.J. Burnett in the sixth into the left-field seats to give the Mets a 5-2 lead. The home run was only his third hit since the All-Star break. "Thats how you win games, period," New York manager Terry Collins said about the contributions from Recker and reserve outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, among others. "It just makes a huge difference and it takes a lot of heat off the guys who every day get worn down. Once in a while fresh blood in the lineup can lift you up. Today it did." Burnett (7-15), who has struggled mightily this season against the team that drafted him, looked sharp early on but ended up allowing five runs and nine hits over six inconsistent innings. Gee dodged trouble all afternoon, stranding a runner at third three times against a club thats hit him hard most of his career. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Wil Nieves grounded into a double play started by Flores. Ben Revere was left at third when Jimmy Rollins struck out in the fifth. And in the sixth, Gee struck out Nieves with runners at the corners before Cody Asche flied out to deep right-centre. "Thats what Dillon Gee does. He hangs in there," Collins said. "He keeps you in the game." Brown drove Jeurys Familias third pitch just over the left-centre fence leading off the eighth to pull the Phillies to 5-4. Mets rookie Dilson Herrera, who made his major league debut Friday night, added an important insurance run in the bottom half with his first career RBI, driving in Nieuwenhuis with a single. Philadelphia put its first two hitters on in the ninth before Herrera and Flores turned a tough double play against Howard. Grady Sizemore had an RBI single, then Jenrry Mejia retired Brown for his 21st save. Flores also helped Familia with a diving play on Reveres hard-hit grounder to end the eighth. Howard hit a solo shot in the sixth, reaching 20 home runs for the eighth time and first since 2011. He has seven career homers against Gee. COOL KEEPSAKE Herrera, who got his first major league hit Saturday night, said he plans to send the souvenir ball to his parents. "Im going to send it to my mom and dad because Im really happy for them," he said through a translator. "Its a pleasure to give them the ball." HALL OF FAME COMPANY Rollins RBI single in the seventh gave him 657 multihit games, tying Richie Ashburn for the franchise record. "I had no idea. Thats cool, though," the veteran shortstop said. "Ive heard a lot about Richie. To do that is another cool feat along the way." TRAINERS ROOM Phillies: OF-1B John Mayberry Jr. (left wrist inflammation) arrived in the clubhouse a few hours before the game. He was scheduled to fly with the team to Atlanta afterward, and was expected to be activated from the disabled list for Mondays game against the Braves. But on Sunday night, the Phillies traded Mayberry to Toronto for minor league infielder Gustavo Pierre. Mets: LHP Josh Edgin (elbow) is still experiencing significant soreness and will see a doctor again this week, according to Collins. ... RF Curtis Granderson was not in the lineup after going 0 for 4 Saturday on his bobblehead night and striking out with the bases loaded in the seventh. Collins said he thought it was an ideal opportunity to give Granderson a rest. UP NEXT Phillies: LHP Cole Hamels (7-6, 2.59 ERA) faces 13-game winner Julio Teheran on Monday afternoon in Atlanta. Mets: RHP Zack Wheeler (9-9, 3.44) is on the mound Monday for the opener of a three-game series at third-place Miami. Wheeler is 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA in five career starts against the Marlins. 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Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series.Bill Foley is not Jim Balsillie, and the prospective owner of a Las Vegas expansion franchise isnt following the same path that got the former BlackBerry mogul blacklisted by the NHL.Several years ago Balsillie tried (and failed) to move the Nashville Predators to Hamilton and even went so far as to list season tickets for sale against the leagues wishes. When he wanted to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, the NHL preferred bankruptcy to his ownership and went to court to keep him out.Foley doesnt have a long history with the NHL, but his efforts to deliver hockey to Las Vegas have been in lock step with what commissioner Gary Bettman wants. So far, the millionaire businessman has asked for and received permission to run a season-ticket drive and isnt pressuring for anything more.Im an ex-Army guy. I follow orders, Foley said in a phone interview over the weekend from his home in Northern California. Weve been very careful in our meetings with the NHL administrative staff, just trying to make sure that we do things in the proper fashion. Were not pushy, were not demanding.Foley is trying to go about this the right way as the league and owners have many questions about the unique nature of the tourism-heavy Las Vegas market. But dont mistake that for the 70-year-old believing the city cant handle a pro team.To the contrary: Foley is in this to win it because he sees the growing business community in Las Vegas and its employees as the perfect audience for the NHL.Nevada and Las Vegas in particular are no longer what they were 50 years ago or 40 years ago: a gambling city, kind of a weigh station in the desert, Foley said. A number of software companies, development companies have located in Las Vegas. ... Those companies and those people who work for those companies, thats our target. Those are the people that we want to have come to these games.A schedule of NHL games in Las Vegas is at least 22 months and many steps away, including the completion of an arena being built by AEG and MGM on the strip and eventual approval by the board of governors. The arena is a question of when, but league approval requires a two-thirds vote and is not a sure thing.The first step is a season-ticket drive that is expected to measure the level of interest Las Vegas locals have in supporting a professional hockey team. The league is eager to see the results.I think what the ownership group is looking for, and ultimately what I think what would be important to the board, is that local people in Las Vegas are going to support this franchise, not just the local businesses, deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last week in Boca Raton, Fla. Because Im not sure it’s the same thing.It wont get going in earnest until early 2015, but Foley said as of Saturday and through only two days of the initial website launching that 1,500 people had already given their name, phone number and email address to express interest in buying season tickets.Thats without any advertising beyond Bettman announcing Foley had been given the go-ahead to launch the ticket drive and the ensuuing buzz and publicity from it.dddddddddddd In hockey circles the idea of going to Las Vegas is glamorous, and locally the notion of finally attracting a team in one of North Americas major four sports leagues is enticing.Being the first of those leagues to break into Las Vegas is also intriguing.If the theory is that a market can support a professional sports franchise, by being first you know when theres only so many dollars in a market, youre getting those dollars committed to you as opposed to having to compete with somebody else for those dollars, Daly said.To bring the NHL to Las Vegas, Foley could partner with the Las Vegas-based Maloof family, which previously owned the NBAs Sacramento Kings. Though he lives part-time in California and Whitefish, Mont., and has business ventures in Jacksonville, Fla., Foley and his associates seem to grasp the intricacies of the Las Vegas market.With that in mind, Foley said the upcoming ticket drive is expected to include some seats in half-season and quarter-season shares just to make sure that we hit the demographics properly in Las Vegas. Like True North in Winnipeg did after it was awarded the Atlanta Thrashers, Foley said his group would offer NHL-average ticket prices ranging from around US$40 to $120 with the mid-point being somewhere around $62 to $65.Winnipeg is different on a host of fronts because they were really selling tickets and they already had a real season-ticket base, Daly said.Suites, including so-called bunker ones available along the glass, are expected to sell out extremely quickly, Foley said. The goal of the season-ticket drive is to show theres a base of fans to fill the rest of the seats.We feel like if we can demonstrate the strong local support for a team, that will go a long ways toward convincing the NHL or persuading the NHL that hockeys viable in Las Vegas, Foley said. Our mission is simply that. It doesnt really go beyond that. Were trying to rally the Las Vegas community behind this concept.The arena, a 20,000-seat state-of-the-art facility, is scheduled to open in spring of 2016.Itll be as good as it gets in terms of hockey visibility, Foley said. The arena is being designed around not just concerts and fights and so on. Its being designed around hockey.Thats a big plus, especially considering one of the other front-runners for expansion, Seattle, doesnt have an arena that could house an NHL team. Even Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where the New York Islanders are moving next season, has an awkward setup for hockey, including the overhead scoreboard hanging over one blue-line.Quebec City has the sparkling Quebecor Arena set to open this fall, but Bettman has urged Nordiques fans and others not to assume that building is a guarantee of getting an NHL team. It doesnt hurt, but Quebec appears to be behind Las Vegas, at least right now, in the pecking order.Foley isnt apologizing for being at the front of the line.Were just focused on Las Vegas, he said. I cant help anybody else or worry about anybody else.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '