Mistake-prone, punchless Mets lose to Nationals

The Mets have fought to stay in just about every game this season. Fighting to the end is something Jerry Manuel says he appreciates.

But if the Mets are to be a real contender, battling has to produce results. Last night, the Mets didn't fail to battle, but they repeatedly failed to score runs.

The Mets stranded 11 runners in a 3-2 loss to the Nationals, including the tying run in the ninth inning when Jason Bay struck out against Miguel Batista.

That was a theme: Seven Mets struck out with runners on, six with runners in scoring position. And the Mets are hitting only .228 with men in scoring position after a 1-for-12 performance.

"To be the team that we want to be," David Wright said, "we've got to win these close ones. We had runners out there, we just couldn't get that big hit."

John Maine (1-2) worked a solid six innings, allowing two runs on back-to-back homers in the third inning. Aside from the solo shots by Adam Kennedy and Ryan Zimmerman, Maine found his spots with his fastball.

"Just keeping us in the game, that's it," said Maine, who allowed seven hits and struck out five. "I could've done a little more, I had a couple bad pitches, but it doesn't matter. We lost."

Maine escaped a first-inning jam with runners on second and third by striking out Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham, but the Mets began their night of futility right away in their first at-bat.

Nationals rookie Luis Atilano (3-0) loaded the bases with one out on a single by Angel Pagan and two walks, but Wright struck out on an inside fastball, the ninth straight official at-bat he struck out. Ike Davis also whiffed to end that chance.

The Mets waited until the sixth to threaten again, and they had at least two hits in each of the last four innings but produced only two runs. Bay and Wright singled in the sixth, sending Atilano to the dugout, but Davis flared a pitch from Doug Slaten that went about 70 feet. Zimmerman caught it and doubled off Wright at first.

"You have to make a decision there, and I made the wrong one," Wright said. He also jammed a finger on his right hand diving back to first but stayed in the game.

Luis Castillo drove in a run in the seventh with a two-out single, but Jose Reyes was caught looking at a borderline, full-count pitch from Tyler Walker. Reyes was ejected by plate umpire Laz Diaz for throwing his bat and helmet. "I don't like a guy getting thrown out, but I applaud the fight," said Manuel, who also was tossed by Diaz.

Pedro Feliciano allowed three straight hits in the eighth to give the Nationals back their two-run lead. Ivan Rodriguez (4-for-4, .393) had the RBI. Francoeur struck out with Wright and Davis on in the eighth, and Rod Barajas popped to short.

Pagan homered with one out in the ninth and Alex Cora, in for Reyes, singled with two outs. But Bay quickly went to 0-and-2, then gave a hesitant swing for strike three to end it.

"There's only so much HoJo [hitting coach Howard Johnson] can do, only so much Jerry can do. It's on us," Francoeur said. "We've got to get it going. We're just not hitting the ball."