Saturday's 8-4 win against the Washington Nationals marked several steps forward for the New York Mets and put an end to some cold streaks. It not only snapped a three-game losing skid, it was the longest outing for a Mets starting pitcher since the third game of the season and the team went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
After jumping out to a first-inning 2-0 lead on a Carlos Beltran two-run homerun, Chris Capuano promptly gave up a three-run homerun of his own to Danny Espinosa in the top of the second inning. Beltran belted another homerun in the fourth inning, his second of the year and his second one of the day batting right-handed. Again, though, Capuano was victim to the long-ball as Ian Desmond hit a solo shot against him in the fifth inning.
After that the Mets' offense kicked it into high gear in the sixth inning -- David Wright walked, Beltran reached on an error and Ike Davis tripled them in with a gap-hit to right centerfield. Daniel Murphy then singled Davis in and the Mets turned a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead. Jose Reyes would chip in on the fun with his first RBI's of the year in the eight inning, doubling home Jerry Hairston and Brad Emaus.
Altogether, Capuano pitched fairly well, totalling six innings, allowing seven hits and four runs while striking out eight. Beltran and Davis each finished with two hits apiece, with Beltran knocking in three and scoring three runs. Taylor Buccholz, Bobby Parnell (with some shaky command) and Francisco Rodriguez combined to pitch three innings of scoreless relief to close out the game.