Montreal ? Al Leiter made clear who the ace of the New York Mets’ staff is.

Leiter pitched a two-hitter for his eighth career shutout and Mike Piazza hit an RBI double to lead the Mets to a 1-0 win over the Montreal Expos on Thursday night.

Newcomer Pedro Astacio drew the praise of manager Bobby Valentine with a complete-game win Tuesday night, but Leiter did even better.

“It was the best performance of the year,” Valentine said. “I think I got Al a little upset by saying Pedro had the best performance of the year the other day. Al came out against a hot-hitting team with the hardest game to win, 1-0 on the road, no doubt about that. He went nine, he was excellent I couldn’t be happier. That’s outstanding.”

Leiter (2-0) allowed Michael Barrett’s double in the fourth and Jose Vidro’s double in the fifth as he pitched his 14th career complete game before a crowd of 4,512 that featured a large crowd of Mets fans behind their dugout.

“I don’t get many complete games, and I was certainly tasting the complete game and the shutout,” Leiter said. “I don’t know how many I’ve had in my career, but I cherish every one of them.”

Dodgers 5, Padres 2

Los Angeles Omar Daal pitched 61/3 strong innings in an emergency start for the injured Kevin Brown as Los Angeles beat San Diego. Mark Grudzielanek and Adrian Beltre homered, helping end the Padres’ seven-game winning streak at Dodger Stadium.

Brewers 7, Cardinals 5

Milwaukee Richie Sexson homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs as Milwaukee beat St. Louis in Jerry Royster’s first game as the Brewers’ interim manager. Royster replaced Davey Lopes, who was fired Thursday after the Brewers’ 3-12 start, the worst in franchise history

Reds 5, Astros 4, 10 innings

Cincinnati Aaron Boone got Cincinnati’s comeback rolling with a three-run homer off Billy Wagner in the eighth inning, and Jason LaRue singled with the bases loaded in the 10th inning.

Marlins 8, Phillies 7

Miami Andy Fox singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the eighth inning, and Florida bounced back after blowing a four-run lead to beat Philadelphia. The Marlins overcame a 3-0 deficit and led 7-3 before the Phillies scored four times in the eighth to tie the game.