Mets whiff on rally opportunities, lose to Nats
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes reacts after he was called out on strikes by umpire Laz Diaz in the seventh inning. Reyes was ejected moments later after throwing his helmet and bat. (May 10, 2010) Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
Adam Kennedy and Ryan Zimmerman hit consecutive homers to support a sharp outing by rookie Luis Atilano, and the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 3-2 Monday night.
Ivan Rodriguez had an RBI single in the seventh among his four hits and stole a base for Washington, which came in tied with New York for second in the NL East at 17-14. Kennedy homered to right and Zimmerman to left off John Maine (1-2) in the third inning.
Atilano (3-0) allowed five hits in 5 1-3 innings and got his first big league hit to help the Nationals improve to four games over .500 (18-14) for the first time since they were 77-73 on Sept. 19, 2005.
The Mets had the tying runs on base in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings but could not come up with a clutch hit.
