• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Mets eye series win over Nationals

Apr 10, 2011 - 3:03 PM (Sports Network) - Coming off his first win as a Met, Chris Young will try to pitch New York to a series victory in the rubber match of their three-game series with the Nationals.

Young shut down the Phillies, 7-1 at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday. In that game, he allowed five hits and a run, walked four batters and fanned seven. The right-hander is 3-1 lifetime in four games, all starts, against the Nationals with a 2.42 ERA.

After dropping their home opener on Friday, the Mets evened the series on Saturday, as Carlos Beltran went 2-for-4 with a two-run and solo home run to help New York take an 8-4 triumph.

"Yesterday at the plate I felt I had some good at-bats from the left side," Beltran said. "Today when I came to the gates I was working, trying to stay inside of the ball."

Ike Davis hit a two-run triple in the sixth and Jose Reyes added a two-run double in the eighth for the Mets, who snapped a three-game slide. Chris Capuano (1-0) worked six innings of four-run ball, giving up seven hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Danny Espinosa hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning while Ian Desmond added a solo shot for the Nationals, who had won their previous two. Tom Gorzelanny (0-1) was tagged for six runs -- five earned -- on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.

Despite the setback, Nats manager Jim Riggleman remains optimistic about his offense.

"I just know we're going to score runs and we're going to get them in if we keep putting them on there," Riggleman said.

Taking the ball this afternoon for the Nationals will be Jason Marquis. The righty didn't receive a decision in his first start of the campaign, a 3-2 Washington loss at Florida on Tuesday. Marquis surrendered six hits and a pair of runs in 6 1/3 innings. He's 6-7 with a 4.65 ERA in 23 games (16 starts) all-time against the Mets.

Washington prevailed in five of their nine encounters with New York at Citi Field a year ago, with the two NL East foes splitting 18 overall meetings in the season series.