WASHINGTON - Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado also went deep, and the New York Mets built a big lead then barely held on to beat the Washington Nationals 9-7 Wednesday night.
Brandon Knight (1-0), a 32-year-old journeyman back from the Olympics, earned his first major league victory with five solid innings.
Luis Ayala, New York's seventh reliever, got the final out for his eighth save.
The Mets had lost four of their previous five games to fall out of first place in the NL East. By winning, they remained a half-game behind the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies, who beat Atlanta 6-1 Wednesday.
New York began the day with a half-game lead over Milwaukee for the wild card.
Reyes led off the game by homering off Shairon Martis (0-3), and Delgado also hit a solo shot in the first. Beltran hit a two-run drive in the third, and a solo homer in the eighth.
The usual Mets bullpen shenanigans followed, and manager Jerry Manuel made several trips to the mound for the final 12 outs. Ayala, acquired from the Nationals last month, struck out pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina with a runner on to end it.
Clearly in need of a victory - and one day after Manuel held a closed-door, 15-minute team meeting - the Mets got a big lift from a few of their high-profile players.
Reyes, Delgado and Beltran went a combined 1-for-22 with zero runs and two RBIs over the first two games of this series, both losses, against a Nationals club trying to avoid finishing with baseball's worst record.
But that trio did its job Wednesday, going a combined 6-for-11 with four homers, three walks, six runs and seven RBIs. The group did particularly well against rookie righty Shairon Martis (0-3), and particularly toward a certain part of the ballpark.
Reyes drove Martis' fifth pitch over the video board in right-center field that carries scores from other games around the majors. It was Reyes' 15th homer this season, third leading off a game.
Two outs later, on an 0-2 pitch, Delgado's 36th homer traveled to the left of that scoreboard.
Martis walked Reyes leading off the third, then gave up Daniel Murphy's RBI triple - that ball hit the outfield wall a few feet to the left of those out-of-town scores - and Delgado's run-scoring single to put the Mets ahead 4-1.
Moments later it was 6-1, because Beltran deposited his 25th homer just to the right of that very same scoreboard.
Knight, who pitched for the Yankees in 2001 and 2002 and was on the U.S. baseball team at the Beijing Olympics, was making his second career start in the majors.
Mets 9
Nationals 7
Luis Ayala, New York's seventh reliever, got the final out for his eighth save.
The Mets had lost four of their previous five games to fall out of first place in the NL East. By winning, they remained a half-game behind the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies, who beat Atlanta 6-1 Wednesday.
New York began the day with a half-game lead over Milwaukee for the wild card.
Reyes led off the game by homering off Shairon Martis (0-3), and Delgado also hit a solo shot in the first. Beltran hit a two-run drive in the third, and a solo homer in the eighth.
The usual Mets bullpen shenanigans followed, and manager Jerry Manuel made several trips to the mound for the final 12 outs. Ayala, acquired from the Nationals last month, struck out pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina with a runner on to end it.
Clearly in need of a victory - and one day after Manuel held a closed-door, 15-minute team meeting - the Mets got a big lift from a few of their high-profile players.
Reyes, Delgado and Beltran went a combined 1-for-22 with zero runs and two RBIs over the first two games of this series, both losses, against a Nationals club trying to avoid finishing with baseball's worst record.
But that trio did its job Wednesday, going a combined 6-for-11 with four homers, three walks, six runs and seven RBIs. The group did particularly well against rookie righty Shairon Martis (0-3), and particularly toward a certain part of the ballpark.
Reyes drove Martis' fifth pitch over the video board in right-center field that carries scores from other games around the majors. It was Reyes' 15th homer this season, third leading off a game.
Two outs later, on an 0-2 pitch, Delgado's 36th homer traveled to the left of that scoreboard.
Martis walked Reyes leading off the third, then gave up Daniel Murphy's RBI triple - that ball hit the outfield wall a few feet to the left of those out-of-town scores - and Delgado's run-scoring single to put the Mets ahead 4-1.
Moments later it was 6-1, because Beltran deposited his 25th homer just to the right of that very same scoreboard.
Knight, who pitched for the Yankees in 2001 and 2002 and was on the U.S. baseball team at the Beijing Olympics, was making his second career start in the majors.
Mets 9
Nationals 7
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CryinRyan wrote on Sep 18, 2008 9:34 AM: