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Santana picks up win No. 10 in nation's capital

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08/12/2008 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Damion Easley was hit by a pitch in the eighth frame, forcing in the eventual winning run, and New York's mix-match bullpen navigated the final two frames in a 4-3 victory over Washington in the first of three games between the two NL East rivals.

Johan Santana (10-7) again left his fate in a beleaguered Mets bullpen riddled with injuries and poor pitching. Joe Smith got the hold and Pedro Feliciano notched his first save after seven strong frames from Santana, who allowed three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

The Mets bullpen responded following a meeting with manager Jerry Manuel, in which the skipper threatened to use starters in relief if the back-end's ineffectiveness continued.

"A meeting helps sometimes. We're supposed to be professionals and be able to put a game like yesterday behind us. But sometimes it's good to pull everyone together. I took what Jerry said (about bringing up starters) as something to fire us up," said Smith. "It hurts when they talk about bringing people in. This is our bullpen. We want to step up and do it."

Carlos Beltran doubled twice as part of a 3-for-4 night and David Wright collected two hits and scored twice for the Mets, who snapped a brief two-game skid in the first game of a seven-contest road trip.

Saul Rivera (3-5) was saddled with the loss in a hotly debated eighth inning. Wright and Beltran each singled before Rivera struck out Carlos Delgado. Fernando Tatis then appeared to swing at a high-and-inside 3-2 offering, but first base umpire Mike Reilly ruled no swing to load the bases.

Easley then saw a high offering go off his helmet, although Washington manager Manny Acta contended -- to no avail -- the ball hit Easley's bat. The hit-by- pitch forced in Wright for a 4-3 lead.

Ryan Langerhans hit his first home run of the season for Washington, losers of five games in a row.

The Mets began the road swing with a two-run first frame triggered by Nick Evans' one-out single. After Wright skied a pitch to the right fielder Austin Kearns, Beltran doubled to put runners at second and third. Delgado delivered with a perfectly-placed single into left-center, scoring both runners.

Washington responded with two runs of its own in the home half of the inning. Cristian Guzman doubled with one out and scored on Ryan Zimmerman's base hit and then Kearns singled. With two outs, Jesus Flores' base hit to center allowed Zimmerman to cross the plate with the tying run.

The Mets re-claimed the edge in the third on back-to-back doubles by Wright and Beltran.

Washington squared the see-saw affair with Langerhans' solo shot just after stretch time.

Game Notes

Washington outfielder Lastings Milledge bunted for a base hit in the sixth, extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games...Jose Reyes stole his 40th base of the season...Nationals starter Odalis Perez pitched six solid frames, yielding three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one walk...Flores has 52 RBI on the season...Delgado notched his 74th and 75th RBIs of the campaign...The attendance was 32,186...The Mets optioned Carlos Muniz to New Orleans (PCL) to make room for John Maine, who will come off the DL and start tomorrow.