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Santana shows Nats he's in form

April 24, 2008 12:15 am

BY RICH CAMPBELL

WASHINGTON--

And here, in the sixth inning of a tie game, was a ball cued off the bat of the New York Mets' Ryan Church. It rolled only about 50 feet before Zimmerman gloved it, but, oh, was this trouble.

Because the ball was hit so slowly, and because Zimmerman had to charge in to field it, he made a hurried throw on the run. It sailed wide of first baseman Nick Johnson and into foul territory in shallow right field, allowing Carlos Beltran to score all the way from first base on the play.

It was the first of two infield hits in the inning that, although seemingly innocuous off the bat, ultimately caused a 7-2 loss to get away from the Nationals.

"It was the craziest spin I've ever seen on a ball," Zimmerman said, "but that doesn't excuse me for throwing it away after I caught it. That's a play I expect myself to make."

Washington has now lost 16 of 19 and hasn't won consecutive games since starting 3-0. The Nationals' offensive woes continued, as the Nos. 3 through 6 hitters combined to go 0-for-15.

New York's infield hits were "the kind of stuff we need to happen when we're hitting," Zimmerman lamented.

Washington returned to Nationals Park to begin an 11-game homestand, its longest of the season, and was greeted by a picturesque spring evening and a crowd of 32,780

Hip-hop music blared in the home clubhouse an hour before first-pitch, and the Nationals (6-16) seemed relaxed. Perhaps they were buoyed by Tuesday's 6-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves, arguably their best game of the season. They got a stellar starting pitching performance from John Lannan, some timely hitting in the ninth inning of a one-run game, and they did not commit an error.

But they were unable to duplicate that showing against New York starter Johan Santana, a two-time unanimous Cy Young Award winner. Santana wasn't invincible (he gave up two runs on seven hits in seven innings), but he was good enough against a lineup whose biggest hit came from starting pitcher Tim Redding.

Redding (3-2), who began his minor league career as Santana's teammate in Houston's organization in 1998, took the loss after giving up three runs on four hits in five innings. But once again, he gave the Nationals a chance to win. It was a typical solid outing for the 30-year-old, the kind that has prompted Acta to praise Redding's consistency all season.

"One bad thing about battling," Redding said, "it only means something when you come out on top."

Redding has pitched at least five innings in 16 of 19 starts since his Nationals debut last July, and he has surrendered four or more earned runs in only four outings.

But he could not forgive himself for walking former Nationals catcher Brian Schneider and Santana, the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, with one out in the fifth. Schneider eventually scored on--you guessed it--an infield hit by Luis Castillo with two outs.

"I absolutely forgot how to throw a strike for two batters," Redding said.

That provided the backdrop for Washington's maddening sixth inning. It was death by pinprick.

Beltran led off with a single to left, and Church, a former National, followed with his swinging bunt to third against reliever Ray King that made the score 3-2 (it was ruled a single and a two-base throwing error by Zimmerman).

After a pop-out, Angel Pagan hit a slow chopper toward first base. Ray King fielded it as Church scored the Mets' fourth run. King spun around and bounced a throw to first, which Johnson couldn't scoop. The play was ruled a hit.

"It was two squibbers that cost us the ballgame," King said. "I'll take credit for that. I'm not going to make excuses. Tonight, I didn't do my job."

Pagan proceeded to steal second and third base and positioned himself to score. Schneider hit a high chopper up the middle that King deflected to shortstop Cristian Guzman. Guzman threw Schneider out at first from his knees, but New York's lead was 5-2.

Washington has now been outscored in the sixth inning this season by a count of 28-3.

The margin was plenty for Santana and two Mets relievers. The Nationals didn't get a hit after Redding's two-out, two-run double gave them a 2-1 lead, in the bottom of the fourth.

"We don't feel sorry for ourselves," Zimmerman said, "and we don't expect anyone else to."

METS 7, NATIONALS 2

New York

Washington

New York

010

013

002--

7

Washington

000

200

000--

2

E--Zimmerman (2). LOB--New York 8, Washington 6. 2B--Beltran (8), JSantana 2 (3), Redding (1). RBIs--LCastillo (3), Church 2 (13), Delgado (9), Pagan (12), Schneider (8), Redding 2 (2). SB--JReyes (4), LCastillo (5), Pagan 2 (2). GIDP--FLopez. . DP--New York 1 (LCastillo, JReyes and Delgado).

Redding pitched to 1 batter in the 6th. Inherited runners-scored--King 1-1, SRivera 1-0.

T--3:03. A--32,780 (41,888).

Rich Campbell: 540/735-1974
Email: rcampbell@freelancestar.com