Thrust into the middle of the playoff chase by the schedule maker, if not their own play, the Nationals have acquitted themselves well against their National League East rivals in recent days.
But the spotlight finally got the better of the Nats on Wednesday. Desperate for a win — any win — the first-place Mets efficiently turned 11 hits into eight runs and watched their exhausted bullpen right itself in an 8-4 victory.
The Mets (84-67), despite committing another three errors, snapped a five-game losing streak and remained 1 1/2 ahead of second-place Philadelphia, pending the result of its game at St. Louis last night.
The Nats (68-84), still three full games ahead of last-place Florida (65-87) in the division, took two of three games from New York and tonight begin a four-game series with the Phillies that will close out RFK Stadium’s life as a Major League Baseball venue.
David Wright was 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Mets and Moises Alou extended his hitting streak to 23 games. The Nats had nine hits off Mets starter Mike Pelfrey (3-7), but stranded five runners in scoring position. Nats starter Matt Chico (5-9) lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and five earned runs.
Lunch with Stan
Nats president Stan Kasten acknowledges his club needs to get better, and he will head into this offseason with the same philosophy he’s always had: Making trades is preferable to signing free agents.
Team revenues will rise with the opening of a new stadium in 2008, but Kasten, who held an informal lunch meeting with members of the media Wednesday, wouldn’t say how much payroll would increase.
He and general manager Jim Bowden have praised rookie manager Manny Acta’s work this season, but Kasten declined to say whether the club would pick up the option on Acta’s contract.
