New York @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( May 19, 2010 ) NY Mets 3, Washington 5
With a season-long five-game losing streak in their wake the Washington Nationals turn to an impressive rookie pitcher to try to finish a sweep of the New York Mets tonight.
No, not that impressive rookie pitcher.
Top pick Stephen Strasburg is still at Triple-A Syracuse. For now. But the Nationals hope Luis Atilano can turn in another strong start tonight.
Atilano, a 25-year-old right-hander from Puerto Rico, has been a solid addition since joining the Nationals' rotation in late April. He has allowed three or fewer runs in four of his five starts, including the one against the Mets in which he went 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run.
His last time out, Atilano gave up three runs on four hits over five innings at Colorado. He took a no-decision in a 4-3 loss.
Another rookie pitcher earned his first win for the Nationals on Wednesday - but he's not that rookie pitcher, either. Drew Storen recorded the last two outs in the seventh for his first major league win and Nationals fans are buzzing about the future with Storen and Strasburg eventually on the same staff.
Strasburg's major league debut seems imminent after he extended his streak of scoreless innings to 21 1/3 with 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball for Class AAA Syracuse on Wednesday. But the Nationals say he won't make the jump to Washington until June 4 against the Reds.
The Mets won't have to worry about the hard-throwing right-hander for a while, but they have plenty of pressing concerns.
New York has lost nine of 11 with Washington doing much of the damage. The Mets are 2-5 against the Nationals this year.
The latest loss, a 5-3 defeat Wednesday, came in spite of a huge night for outfielder Angel Pagan, who became the first player in 55 years to hit an inside-the-park home run and take part in a triple play in the same game.
Pagan hit the second inside-the-park homer of his career in the fourth, then started a triple play with a shoestring catch in the fifth.
But as is usually the case lately, things didn't work out for the Mets.
They hope to change that tonight with right-hander John Maine, who had put together a string of three quality starts before getting rocked for six runs on seven hits over five innings in a 7-5 loss Saturday at Florida.
Maine faced Washington on May 10, allowing two runs on seven hits over six innings but taking the loss in a 3-2 defeat. In that one, he was outpitched by Atilano and a parade of five relievers.
The Mets gave third baseman David Wright a rare night off Wednesday. The slugger is 3-for-25 in his last seven games.