Carter immediately helps out in a pinch

Chris Carter knows why he's with the Mets. And he delivered right away.

"I hope I can bring a lot of hits," he said before last night's game. "You know, energy, just hard work. If I can help out in any way, I'm glad to."

He helped, big time. Carter had a pinch-hit double to right in the eighth inning, scoring Alex Cora with the go-ahead run in an 8-6 victory over the Nationals and doing what Frank Catalanotto could not: be the clutch lefthanded bat off the bench.

Carter capped a big night for the bench. Gary Matthews Jr. had his first hit as a pinch hitter after going 0-for-11, and Cora walked as a pinch hitter before staying in the game and bunting for a single in the eighth.

Catalanotto was designated for assignment to make room for Carter, and the Smithtown product had, along with Matthews Jr., been dead weight off the bench. The two totaled 3-for-33 pinch hitting before Matthews' hit.

"We left spring training feeling we'd be able to get some reps for those guys [on the bench], but we're also trying to get other guys going and that makes it tougher to do that," Jerry Manuel said. "We still expect production from the bench guys."

Carter nearly made the team as that lefthanded bat off the bench and substitute corner outfielder out of spring training, but was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. He didn't pout, though, and hit .336 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 29 games.

"I enjoyed the spring, getting to know the New York Mets organization," Carter said. "Once I started playing with the Bisons, I never dwelt on the past, I just kept moving forward and working hard. I was happy to be there."

Carter had stints with the Red Sox each of the last two seasons, so he's never really been just a bat off the bench, not having been in the National League. Manuel said he'd use Carter as a replacement in either leftfield or rightfield and as an emergency first baseman.

But Carter's main purpose is to awaken a slumbering Mets bench. He was in the on-deck circle in the sixth when Rod Barajas popped to short for the third out, but Manuel went with Cora to lead off the seventh, saving Carter for a different opportunity.

One that Carter made the most of.