It took all of two hours and 16 minutes for the Mets to dispatch of the Washington Nationals, 6-2, tonight as Livan Hernandez continued his dominance over the Nationals, beating them for the eighth straight time. Hernandez got his sixth win of the season by pitching seven strong innings, allowing two runs in the fourth inning and only five hits all game.
The Mets’ bats woke up and took advantage of rookie starter J.D. Martin, who only pitched four innings and gave up eight hits and five runs. This was his first game in the big leagues despite playing pro ball for nine years.
Angel Pagan, Daniel Murphy and Jeff Francoeur were the offensive heroes. The Mets rang up five runs in the first two innings. Murphy and Pagan had two hits apiece and drove in a combined three runs and scored three times. Francoeur hit his first home run as a Met and contributed two more RBI on three hits. Luis Castillo drove in the other run. David Wright had an 0-for-4 night with two strikeouts, dropping his average to .318.
Murphy committed an air when he almost threw a ball past second base, but he made up for it in the eighth on a spectacular double play. His defense is erratic. Sometimes he drops routine balls thrown to him at first, while other times he’ll make tremendous plays like the flip behind his back. More time at the position should cut down on the errors.
It was a game the Mets needed to win, but they made no headway in the standings as the Phillies and the Braves both won handily. The Marlins are still playing but are trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning against the Padres. It seems like every time the Mets eke out a win, the other teams win, too. The Mets are four games under .500 and with a series sweep could inch closer to getting back to .500 again. Oliver Perez hopes to let the good times roll as he takes the mound Tuesday night.
