While there wasn’t any ball played in the Bronx, the first day of interleague play saw a couple of players have big nights.

In Philadelphia, it didn’t rain enough to stop Jayson Werth. The Phillies’ center fielder hit three homers in his first three at bats driving tying a franchise mark with eight RBI’s in the home club’s 10-3 win over the Blue Jays at Citizen’s BankPark.

He took Toronto rookie starter David Purcey deep twice in the second and third innings. A three-run dinger was followed by a 425-foot grand slam. With Jesse Litsch on in relief during the home fifth, Werth hit his third consecutive home run to left center giving him a chance to tie the major league record of four. But he fouled out in the seventh admitting that it was probably on his mind. Still, he became the 18th Phillie to have a three-homer game and first since teammate Ryan Howard did it on Sept.3, 2006 versus Atlanta.

Meanwhile in the battle of Texas, the night belonged to Josh Hamilton. The 27 year-old first-year Rangers’ center fielder went a perfect 5-for-5 with two homers and five RBI’s leading the home team past the visiting Astros 16-8 in Arlington. He also had an RBI triple just missing the cycle.

The former Tampa Bay 1999 first overall selection needed a double. He singled in his first at bat and came around to score in a three-run first. Two innings later, Hamilton homered to deep right center off Shawn Chacon making it 4-2. In the home fourth, the former Red connected on a three-run shot off the second deck in right for the team’s second dinger of the frame increasing the lead to 8-2.

A five-run Astros’ fifth and Kaz Matsui RBI single in the sixth tied the game up. But Michael Young singled in Ian Kinsler, who slid in just ahead of the tag despite Houston skipper Cecil Cooper’s protests leading to an ejection. Hamilton then followed with an RBI triple giving him a major league-leading 49 runs knocked in.

A six-run Texas eighth inning explosion which included three more homers put the game out of reach. The Rangers finished with six home runs and eight extra base hits in doubling up Lance Berkman’s Astros, cooling them off. Berkman did extend his hit streak to 15 picking up a pair of hits in only Houston’s fourth loss in the last 15.

Hamilton is a great story. As most know, he successfully cameback after battling alcohol and drug addiction problems which looked to be the end of a promising career before it ever really began. After the Cubs lost the outfielder to the Rule 5 Draft where the Reds snagged him, Hamilton performed well in his long anticipated rookie year hitting .292 with 19 homers and 47 RBI’s in 90 games during an injury riddled season.

During the offseason, former Cincinnati GM Wayne Krivsky dealt Hamilton to Texas in exchange for starter Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera. Even though Krivsky was fired, the trade looks to have been a great one for both clubs with Volquez performing remarkably where in eight starts, the 24 year-old from Santo Domingo is 6-1 with an NL best 1.12 ERA while fanning 57 in 48 and a third.

Not too shabby. It just could go down as one of the better deals involving two clubs if the key players continue to perform at such a peak level.

The other good performance Friday came from Alfonso Soriano, who hit a pair of dingers leading the Cubs past the Pirates 7-4. The left field slugger ledoff the game with his 47th career home run to start a game. Rickey Henderson is the all-time record holder with 81 career leadoff blasts.

After a brutal beginning to his second season in Wrigley which saw a stint on the DL, the 32 year-old former Yankee has sprung to life with five homers this week and 15 hits in his last 32 ABs. At one point, he had a .175 batting average and a calf strain drawing plenty of ire from Cub fans about his big contract. Now he’s all the way up to .265 with eight homers, 22 RBI’s and 19 runs scored in 28 games.

Soriano’s always been streaky. Last September, he came to life making up for a disappointing first season by hitting .320 with 14 dingers and 27 RBI’s to lead the Cubs to the NL Central title. Despite missing 29 games, he still wound up with 33 home runs, 70 RBI’s and 80 extra base hits. He didn’t fare as well at home but maybe that’s turning around which would be a welcome sight for Lou Piniella.

Rookie catcher Geovany Soto also added his eighth of the year as the Cubs won their third in a row improving to 26-16, gaining a game on Houston to go up two and a half in the division.

Just a note: The Yanks and Mets will not make up last night’s rainout this weekend. It might be made up as a day/night doubleheader when the Bronx Bombers visit Shea in July.