NEW YORK -- A six-run ninth inning wasn't enough for the
Mets.
An improbable rally fell just short when Paul Lo Duca flied out
with a runner on third, and New York's 10-9 loss to the scrappy
Washington Nationals cost the NL East leaders another chance to
expand their cushion.
With his team in dire need of a strong pitching performance, Tom
Glavine was hit hard and the Mets dropped their fifth straight home
game. They got help elsewhere, though.
New York's magic number was trimmed to four for clinching its
second consecutive division title when second-place Philadelphia
lost 10-6 to Atlanta. The Mets remained two games ahead of the
Phillies with five to play.
Looking sluggish yet again, New York trailed 10-3 in the ninth
before putting together a stirring comeback. Lo Duca singled,
Carlos Gomez drew a one-out walk and Jose Reyes hit a three-run
shot off Jesus Colome for his second homer of the game.
Luis Castillo's single chased Colome and brought on Chad
Cordero. David Wright singled and Carlos Beltran's walk loaded the
bases for streaking Moises Alou, who hit a three-run double into
the right-field corner for his fourth hit.
That's when first-year Nationals manager Manny Acta made an
unorthodox and gutsy move. He pulled his closer for setup man Jon
Rauch, and it paid off.
The big right-hander struck out slugger Carlos Delgado as
pinch-runner Endy Chavez stole third, then pumped his arms in the
air when Lo Duca popped up to shallow right.
Only a few thousand fans remained from the crowd of 49,244 to
see the surprising rally. Shea Stadium got pretty noisy, though --
until Rauch quieted everybody by closing it out for his fourth
save.
The Mets fell to 1-4 over the past nine days against
fourth-place Washington, embracing its role as spoiler. New York
has allowed 48 runs in those five meetings with the Nationals, who
began the day with the fewest runs in the majors.
Glavine (13-7) was supposed to steady the ship during a key
outing sandwiched between two Mets rookie starters -- Mike Pelfrey
was ineffective in Monday's 13-4 loss, and Philip Humber makes his
first major league start Wednesday night.
Instead, the 41-year-old lefty gave up homers to Austin Kearns,
Tony Batista and rookie Justin Maxwell while falling behind 6-2 and
losing for the first time since July 2 at Colorado.
The Mets were already down by four when they came to bat for the
first time and Reyes hit a leadoff homer off the scoreboard in
right-center.
Shawn Green got his 2,000th hit and Alou extended his
team-record hitting streak to 29 games, but the only other positive
numbers for New York most of the night were the ones on the
out-of-town scoreboard.
Jason Bergmann (6-5) held the Mets in check for 5 2-3 innings
and singled twice, improving to 5-0 since a loss at Pittsburgh on
June 30. He is 4-0 in his past five starts.
New York grounded into four inning-ending double plays.
Glavine won his previous six decisions and entered with a 2.20
ERA in his past five starts. But the two-time Cy Young Award
winner, who earned his 300th win last month, was tagged at an
inopportune time.
The Mets had a great chance to get back in the game in the
fifth. Pinch-hitter Ruben Gotay cut it to 6-3 with an RBIs double.
Brian Schneider added a two-run single off Jorge Sosa with two
outs in the seventh -- right after Delgado failed to make a play on
Batista's infield single to first.
Kearns hit his second three-run drive in two nights. Five of his
16 homers this season have come against the Mets.
Game notes
Reyes' 10th career leadoff homer extended his club record.
It was his fourth multihomer game and first at Shea Stadium. ...
RHP Carlos Muniz made his major league debut for the Mets in relief
of Glavine and was charged with two runs in 1 1-3 innings. Muniz,
called up from Triple-A New Orleans last Friday, walked the first
two batters in the seventh. ... The last time Glavine gave up three
homers was July 25, 2006, against the Chicago Cubs.