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Milledge, Mets face Nationals in doubleheader

Jul 28, 2007 - 1:20 PM Washington (44-58) at NY Mets (57-45) 12:10 pm EDT

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Lastings Milledge may be increasing his trade value. However, the New York Mets need him more than ever.

Milledge and the Mets look to snap a two-game losing streak against the feisty Washington Nationals in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.

The 22-year-old is hitting .458 (11-for-24) with two homers and six RBI during a six-game hitting streak and is prime trade bait if the Mets chose to upgrade their rotation.

For the time being though, he is proved invaluable in filling in for All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran, who has missed the last three games with a strained abdominal muscle.

Orlando Hernandez (6-4, 3.14 ERA) takes the hill for New York, which has lost two of three to Washington here this season.

Hernandez is looking for his third win in four starts after not figuring in a 5-4 win at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. He allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Washington, which has won two straight and 10 of its last 16 games, got seven strong innings from former Met Mike Bacsik and two RBI apiece from Ryan Langerhans and Brian Schneider in a 6-2 win in Friday's opener.

Tim Redding (1-2, 2.92) takes the hill for the Nationals. Redding, who has allowed three runs or less in each of his four starts, held the Colorado Rockies to five hits in six scoreless innings but did not figure in a 3-0 win on Sunday.