Those Mets

PEGAN'S INCREDIBLE NIGHT OVERSHADOWED

The Mets saw Angel Pagan hit an inside-the-park homer and start a triple play on Wednesday. They also got a solid six-inning start from knuckleballer R.A. Dickey in his debut. But the club again couldn't generate much offense, getting only five hits as Washington used a three-run seventh inning to pull out a 5-3 victory before 19,384 at Nationals Park. The loss was the Mets' ninth in the last 11 games, and they fell to 5-13 in May, after going 14-9 in April. Offense continues to be the team's biggest problem. New York (19-22) came into the game with a .240 batting average, ranked 13th in the National League. The Mets went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. Those difficulties continue to mystify manager Jerry Manuel. "We are really, really struggling right now in that area," Manuel said. "I thought, watching our batting practice and stuff, today would be a good day for us to break out. I saw some real good signs. But it didn't happen." Nationals starter Livan Hernandez gave up two runs on four hits in 6 1/3 sharp innings. He only gave up Pagan's homer in the fourth and a Jeff Francoeur sacrifice fly in the sixth. Fernando Tatis started at third base in place of David Wright, who had the night off, and got a solo homer in the ninth off closer Matt Capps. But the Mets couldn't do much more. "Livo was pretty good and ... we hit a couple of balls hard, had a man in scoring position and didn't get it done," Manuel said. "I thought once we turned that triple play, things would turn our way, but to no avail." The lack of offense also wasted Dickey's good effort in his first start with the Mets. Before the game, Manuel said he wasn't sure about what would happen when Dickey's turn came up next. Afterward, Manuel said there's no question he'll consider the right-hander for that spot. Dickey gave up two runs on five hits in six innings. He said 85 percent of his pitches were knucklers, and the ball was jumping around the strike zone. "I felt good," Dickey said. "I had a pretty good one. I knew I had a pretty good knuckleball because they weren't really covering it well. They were hitting pieces of it." New York took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Pagan started his busy night with an inside-the-park homer. He lined a shot to deep center that eluded Nyjer Morgan and bounced toward left field. Pagan kept running and beat catcher Ivan Rodriguez's tag for his second career inside-the-park shot. The Nationals (21-20) scored twice off Dickey in the third, one run coming when Pagan made a great diving catch on a Roger Bernadina sacrifice fly. But Pagan started the team's first triple play in seven years by racing in to catch a sinking fly ball from Cristian Guzman with two on and none out in the fifth. Pagan's throw to try to double up Hernandez at second flew past the base, and catcher Henry Blanco raced in to get it near the mound. Blanco then threw to shortstop Jose Reyes at second to double up Hernandez, and Reyes finished the triple play by firing to Ike Davis at first to nail Morgan. "I knew we could have had the triple play," Pagan said. "I threw it to Reyes, maybe a little too high for him, but we got it done." Pagan became the first player since 1955 to hit an inside-the-park homer and start a triple play in the same game. Ted Kazanski of Philadelphia did it on Sept. 25 of that year. Francoeur tied it for the Mets in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, but the Nationals broke it open in the seventh. They began the rally against Raul Valdes (1-1), and snapped the tie at 2 when pinch-hitter Adam Kennedy got a sacrifice fly off Fernando Nieve. Guzman later added an RBI triple, and Ryan Zimmerman's RBI single made it 5-2. Tatis got his solo shot in the ninth off Capps, but the Mets couldn't do any more. Drew Storen (1-0) got his first Major League victory for Washington in his first appearance at Nationals Park. (MLB.com)