Beltran & Delgado Spur Mets Comeback

METS 10

NATIONALS 8

A year ago if the Mets let a 5-2 lead suddenly become a 7-5 Nationals lead, they probably would have curled into a fetal position and lost the game. This year's team is the complete opposite. The Mets fought back in a night of bad pitching from Oliver Perez to beat the last place Nats 10-8 at Shea Stadium, Tuesday night.

Once again, Carlos Delgado was at the center of the victory. If you asked any Met fan in April what numbers they thought Delgado would put up this year, they probably would tell you that he would hit maybe 17 to 20 homers and 85-90 RBI. Well, he has proven everyone wrong.

Since the end of July, Delgado has 24 homeruns and 68 RBI. He now has 35 homers and 103 RBI on the year, and he has tied Dave Kingman for most multi-homerun games in a single season. Kingman had seven multi-homer games in 1976. Delgado, with his performance tonight, tied that mark.

With the game tied at two in the third inning, the Mets put on their hitting shoes. Ryan Church blasted his 12th homer of the year to right field to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. David Wright followed with a single, and Carlos Beltran doubled. Wright tried to score on Beltran's double, but he was tagged out at home. Delgado then came up and lifted the pitch all the way to center field for a two-run homerun to give New York a 5-2 lead.

Oliver Perez couldn't hold it. In the fourth, he walked Aaron Boone and gave up a single to Will Nieves. Alex Gonzalez then laced a base hit to left to drive home Boone to make it 5-3. Next the Nationals pulled even at five. Former Met Anderson Hernandez got some revenge on his former team, when he singled to center field driving in both Nieves and Gonzalez.

Perez was pulled from the game after he gave up a single to Christian Guzman. Nelson Figueroa came in and it didn't get better for the Mets. Ryan Zimmerman singled up the middle driving in the go-ahead run. Lastings Milledge, also got some revenge on the Mets, lacing a single up the middle as well to drive in Guzman, giving the Nats a 7-5 lead.

Still, the Mets tried to get back into the game. In the fourth inning, with Brian Schnieder and Jose Reyes on base, Church grounded out into an RBI as he dribbled the ball to second. Schnieder had enough time to come in from third and scored to cut the Nationals lead to 7-6.

Lastly, David Wright, who has struggled all year with runners in scoring position, delivered a game tying hit, as he flicked the ball to left field drivng in Reyes.

The Nationals would not relent. With Brandon Knight pitching for the Mets, the bottom of the Nationals order teed off the minor leaguer. Nieves walked and Pete Orr singled to make this very interesting. Hernandez capped it off with another base hit, this one good enough to drive home Nieves for the lead.

Again the Mets had to comeback. With Chruch on base, Carlos Beltran blasted a two run shot that just cleared the wall in left center in front of the bleachers. The homerun gave New York a 9-8 lead. Finally, Delgado put an exclimation point on the evening belting a solo shot that bounced off the strikeout scoreboard in the Mets bullpen. 10-8 New York.

Joe Smith, Scott Schoenwies, Brian Stokes and Luis Ayala combined to shutdown Washington in the final three innings of the game for the win. The Mets are still two games in front of Philadelphia for first in the NL East.