Inside-the park HR, triple play not enough for Mets

WASHINGTON - The Mets accomplished two of the rarest feats in baseball last night when Angel Pagan hit an inside-the-park home run and later initiated a triple play with a brilliant catch. What the Mets cannot do is win games, and if that does not change, Jerry Manuel may himself become history.

R.A. Dickey showed promise over six innings. But the Mets' bullpen, once a strength, folded in the seventh. Raul Valdes gave up a leadoff double, and Fernando Nieve, now fading fast, allowed three runs to score as the Mets suffered a 5-3 loss to the Nationals and slipped to 1-6 on this road trip.

Fernando Tatis, who started in place of the struggling David Wright, went 0-for-3 against Nationals starter Livan Hernandez but homered off closer Matt Capps as the Mets stumbled to their ninth loss in 11 games.

The Mets activated Dickey from Triple-A Buffalo for last night's start and placed Jon Niese on the 15-disabled list with a mild right hamstring strain. The knuckleballer allowed two runs in six innings but became a footnote when the Mets tied the score at 2 on Jeff Francoeur's sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Pagan became the first player to hit an inside-the-park home run and start a triple play in the same game since Sept. 25, 1955, when the Phillies' Ted Kazanski did it against the New York Giants, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Pagan made a lunging grab on the run in the fifth to start the 8-2-6-3 triple play; Kazanski initiated a 6-4-3.

The triple play was the 10th in Mets' history and first since May 17, 2002, when Edgardo Alfonzo, Roberto Alomar and Mo Vaughn combined for the feat against the Padres at Qualcomm Stadium. It was only last season that the Mets were involved in a game that featured an inside-the-park home run and triple play. On Aug. 23, Pagan had the home run, and the Mets suffered a 9-7 loss to the Phillies when Eric Bruntlett turned an unassisted triple play to end the game.

After Hernandez opened the fifth with a single and Nyjer Morgan walked, Cristian Guzman punched a sinking line drive to centerfield that fooled the Nationals into believing it would drop for a base hit. But Pagan, who already had made a spectacular diving catch in the fourth, sprinted in to make a shoestring grab this time.

Then, with Hernandez at third and Morgan standing on second, Pagan flipped an off-balance throw to the infield that catcher Henry Blanco snatched near the pitcher's mound. Blanco alertly threw to Jose Reyes covering second to double up Hernandez, and with Morgan stuck on that same bag, Reyes got him, too by firing over to Ike Davis at first.

Pagan's historic night started in the fourth with the inside-the-park homer, the second of his career. He drilled an 0-and-1 pitch from Hernandez to the deepest part of Nationals Park, where it eluded the leaping Morgan. The ball caromed behind Morgan, giving Pagan time to build up speed as the Nationals chased after it.

That race was won by Pagan, who seemed to shift to another gear when third-base coach Chip Hale gave him the green light. Pagan easily slid in ahead of the throw, then popped up and pumped his fist as the Mets celebrated in the dugout.