Mets-Nationals Score: Scott Hairston's Heroics Go To Waste, Mets Fall 3-2 In Washington

Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Rick Ankiel went to third on a pitch in the dirt and scored easily on Ian Desmond's chopper over the mound in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Nationals to a 3-2 win over the Mets.

Washington won with a rally that came after New York tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the ninth on Scott Hairston's two-out solo homer off closer Drew Storen.

Hairston had two homers in the game for the Mets, while Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse had back-to-back RBI doubles in the game for the Nationals.

Mets At Nationals: NIese Takes The Mound Against Zimmermann

(Sports Network) – One day after trading away Jason Marquis from their starting rotation, Jordan Zimmerman aims to pick up the pieces for the Nationals and snap a personal two-game skid in the final of a three-game series against the Mets.

With today’s 4 p.m. (et) trading deadline, the Nationals are once again sellers on the market and proved that yesterday when Marquis was dealt to playoff-contender Arizona in exchanged for minor league infielder Zachary Walters.

Zimmerman has surrendered 12 runs over those contests, losses to the Marlins and Astros. The righty is 2-2 with a 4.35 ERA in six games against the Mets.

Countering for New York will be Jonathon Niese, who is 3-1 over his last five starts. The southpaw has yet to lose to the Nationals, going 2-0 with a 3.44 ERA in three games. In his most recent start, Tuesday at Cincinnati, Niese gave up five runs over five frames.

The Nationals snapped their six-game losing streak with a replacement starter last night. Now, they might lose him as well. Yunesky Maya got the start after Marquis was traded and threw 5 1/3 shutout innings for his first MLB win in a 3-0 final.

Maya (1-1) allowed just five hits, without any strikeouts or walks, but he strained his back running the bases and was taken out with two runners on in the sixth.

“I imagine he’ll have to go on the [disabled list],” said Nationals manager Davey Johnson.

Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (5-9) and the Nationals pitching kept the New York bats silent the rest of the way.

Ross Detwiler, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen finished the shutout for Maya. Storen, the subject of simmering trade rumors, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his 26th save.

David Wright, Jason Bay and Josh Thole had two hits apiece for the Mets, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Wright can tie a franchise record today if he can get at least two hits. Steven Henderson holds the mark with eight multiple-hit games in a row from July 12-21, 1979. Since returning from the disabled list, Wright is 19-for-40.

The Mets have won six of 10 from the Nats this season.

Mets-Nationals Score: Mets' Five-Game Win Streak Ends With 3-0 Loss

Washington, DC (Sports Network) – The Nationals snapped their six-game losing streak with a replacement starter.

Now, they might lose him as well.

Yunesky Maya got the start after fellow right-hander Jason Marquis was traded to Arizona earlier Saturday and threw 5 1/3 shutout innings for his first MLB win as Washington blanked the New York Mets, 3-0.

Maya (1-1) allowed just five hits, without any strikeouts or walks, but he strained his back running the bases and was taken out with two runners on in the sixth.

“I imagine he’ll have to go on the [disabled list],” said Nationals manager Davey Johnson.

Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (5-9) and the Nationals pitching kept the New York bats silent the rest of the way.

Ross Detwiler, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen finished the shutout for Maya. Storen, the subject of simmering trade rumors, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his 26th save.

David Wright, Jason Bay and Josh Thole had two hits apiece for the Mets, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Earlier, Marquis was scratched from his start after the Nationals traded him to the Diamondbacks for switch-hitting shortstop Zachary Walters, a 21-year- old minor leaguer.

Maya was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, joining the Nationals for the second time this season. He entered the game 0-4 with a 6.31 earned run average in nine major league starts over two seasons with the Nationals.

Pitching to contact, Maya had little trouble with a streaking Mets offense, throwing 52 of his 78 pitches for strikes. He set New York down in order in the first two innings.

“He went right after them,” Johnson said.

Werth belted his 12th homer of the season on Jayson Werth Bobblehead night at Nationals Park. Rick Ankiel and Michael Morse scored on the drive over the center-field wall.

The Nationals had eight more hits after Werth’s blast, including three straight singles by Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman and Morse in the eighth inning. They never scored again, but it didn’t matter.

The Mets showed life in the ninth against Storen, who walked Wright and gave up singles to Bay and Thole to load the bases. He struck out pinch-hitter Willie Harris to end the game.

The Mets were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base…Marquis was 8-5 with a 3.95 ERA in 20 starts for the Nationals this season.

Mets At Nationas: Mets Look To Keep Rolling Against Reeling Nationals

(Sports Network) – Going forward, the offense for the New York Mets hasn’t seemed to lose a beat minus Carlos Beltran.

On Thursday, the Mets dealt Beltran to the San Francisco Giants. Despite losing their star right fielder the Mets have been putting up runs in bunches.

Lucas Duda, who replaced Beltran in right field, has five RBI in his last three games. He drove in one last night, part of an 8-5 victory over the Nationals to start this three-game series. It marked the fifth straight victory for the Mets, one off a season-high set on April 21-27.

Although the Mets also traded away closer Francisco Rodriguez at the All-Star break, New York has flickering hopes of actually making the postseason. It enters today 6 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the wild card lead with Arizona, St. Louis and the Pirates all in between.

Judging by the way their offense has played lately, with 34 runs in their last four games, it’s not impossible to think the Mets could pull off an unlikely run to the postseason.

“When you drive in runs with two outs you’re doing good things,” said New York manager Terry Collins. “We’re getting some clutch hitting when we need it and when that happens you win games.”

If they are to extend their winning streak, the Mets will need another decent effort from knuckleball specialist R.A. Dickey. He limited the Reds to a pair of runs over 6 2/3 innings on Monday.

Countering on the mound for the Nationals will be Jason Marquis, who has just one victory over his last seven starts. He’s 6-7 with a 4.64 ERA in 24 games (17 starts) against the Mets.

Last night, the Mets hammered Chien-Ming Wang for four runs in the first inning, ruining the pitcher’s first major league start in more than two years.

Daniel Murphy and Angel Pagan both delivered RBI singles during New York’s first-inning rally as the first five batters of the game reached against Wang, the former 19-game winner who finally returned to the bigs after injury and a recent climb through Washington’s farm system.

Jose Reyes doubled and knocked in two runs and Ronny Paulino had three hits, including an RBI double for the Mets, who continued to streak after completing a four-game sweep of the Reds.

Wang (0-1) settled down to pitch well in the second and third innings before giving up two more runs in the fourth, his last frame. He allowed eight hits and a walk while striking out two. Two of the six runs he gave up were unearned.

“I was pleased with his delivery tonight,” said Washington manager Davey Johnson about Wang. “It looked like for a little while he was getting the ball too low, but he recovered and worked through the start.”

Mets rookie Dillon Gee (10-3) earned the win after yielding three runs — two earned — on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five, walked four and helped himself with an RBI single off Wang.

The Mets have won six of nine from the Nats this season.

Mets-Nationals Score: 8-5 Win Puts Mets Four Games Over .500

Washington, DC (Sports Network) - The Mets hammered Chien-Ming Wang for four runs in the first inning Friday, ruining the pitcher's first major league start in more than two years on the way to an 8-5 victory over the Nationals to open a three-game series.

Daniel Murphy and Angel Pagan both delivered RBI singles during New York's first-inning rally as the first five batters of the game reached against Wang, the former 19-game winner who finally returned to the bigs after a recent climb through Washington's farm system.

Jose Reyes doubled and knocked in two runs and Ronny Paulino had three hits, including an RBI double for the Mets, who continued to streak after completing a four-game sweep of the Reds.

Mets At Nationals: Chien-Ming Wang Returns Against Streaking Mets

(Sports Network) - Chien-Ming Wang returns to a major league hill for the first time since 2009 this evening when the Washington Nationals open a three- game series against the New York Mets at Nationals Park.

After winning 19 games in 2006 and '07, Wang's once promising career was derailed by injuries. In fact he has won just nine times in 27 appearances since the start of the 2008 campaign.

He joined the Nationals before last season on a one-year deal, but did not pitch for them. Wang then re-signed with Washington this offseason.

Wang began a rehab assignment with Single-A Hagerstown on June 27 and pitched for Potomac on July 2, Double-A Harrisburg on July 7 and July 14 and Triple-A Syracuse on July 19.

He allowed five runs in five innings at Syracuse on July 24 in his final rehab game, striking out five batters and walking one.

Wang has never faced the Mets.

On Thursday in Washington, Emilio Bonifacio extended his MLB-best hitting streak to 26 games and the Florida Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the Nationals with a 5-2 victory in the series finale.

John Lannan (7-7) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in the loss.

Jayson Werth went 2-for-4 and knocked in both of Washington's runs as the Nationals dropped their fifth straight game.

The Mets, meanwhile, played their second straight game without traded outfielder Carlos Beltran in the lineup and made it four straight wins overall when Lucas Duda and Jason Bay hit three-run doubles in a 10-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds to complete a sweep at Great American Ball Park.

The Mets banged out 11 hits, six for extra bases, in Wednesday's 8-2 win when the Beltran deal was first announced, and on Thursday were even more potent with 14 hits.

Bay finished 3-for-4 and Duda was 2-for-4, while David Wright and Angel Pagan each had three hits for New York, which built a 9-3 cushion after five innings and withstood a Cincinnati comeback.

The offense made a winner of Chris Capuano (9-10) for the first time since July 4. He had lost three straight starts and didn't pitch particularly well on Thursday, allowing six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Heading to the hill for them tonight will be Dillon Gee, a 25-year-old from Texas, who has won nine of 12 decisions in his second taste of the big leagues after going 2-2 in five starts last season.

He won his initial seven decisions of 2011 and is 2-3 in seven starts since early June, including a 4-2 decision over St. Louis on July 19 with seven innings of three-hit, two-run ball.

He got a no-decision in one subsequent outing, a 5-4 Mets loss at Florida.

Gee has won both career starts against the Nationals while allowing a run on four hits in 14 2/3 innings.

The Mets have won five of eight from the Nats this season.