GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: NY METS (83-67) at WASHINGTON (68-83)

Castillo, Wright help Mets snap five-game skid

<h3>NY METS 8, WASHINGTON 4</h3>WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Luis Castillo and David Wright helpedthe slumping New York Mets avoid further embarrassment.

Castillo hit a go-ahead triple in the fifth and Wright drove inthree runs as the Mets snapped a season-high five-game losingstreak with an 8-4 victory over the Washington Nationals onWednesday.


With the game tied at 2-2 in the fifth and Jose Reyes on first,Castillo laced a triple to left-center field off Washingtonstarter Matt Chico (5-9). Wright followed with a sacrifice flyto center that plated Castillo for a 4-2 lead.


"I'm happy to help the team win," Castillo said through aninterpreter. "We have to keep it up."


"It's a big win for us," Wright said. "A win when we neededone. Everything was clicking tonight. (Mike) Pelfrey had thelook in his eye that he wanted to be the one for us. (Jorge)Sosa came in and did his job. We are a good situational-hittingteam, and those were the keys to our success."


Reyes had two hits and scored a pair of runs for New York(84-67), which moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the PhiladelphiaPhillies (82-70) in the National League East Division.Philadelphia fell to St. Louis, 2-1, in 10 innings.

"It always feels good to win," Met manager Willie Randolph said."I hope we can go to Miami and play well down there."

After Washington cut the deficit to 4-3 on an RBI groundout byAustin Kearns, New York answered with a run in the sixth andthree more in the seventh.


In the sixth, Moises Alou doubled down the left field line offChico and was a sacrificed to third. Paul Lo Duca then drove inAlou with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 5-3.

New York broke open the game an inning later as pinch hitterShawn Green led off with a single and was sacrificed to second.

Green scored as first baseman Robert Fick booted a grounder,allowing Castillo to reach. Wright then drove in his third runof the game with a double to right and scored on Alou's single,capping the scoring.


Pelfrey (3-7) battled through five-plus innings, allowing threeruns and nine hits before leaving with a 5-3 lead and runners onthe corners. Sosa got out of the jam and threw two scorelessinnings.


"You have to tip your hat to them," Pelfrey said. "They hit theball, but I was able to get out of most of the jams. I justtried to pitch well and put us in a position to win."

"It was a good outing for him," Randolph said. "He's improving,and that's good to see."


The Mets took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Lo Duca in thesecond. But the Nationals grabbed a 2-1 advantage in their halfof the frame thanks to an RBI groundout by rookie Jesus Floresand a run-scoring single by Chico.


New York tied the game at 2-2 as Reyes hit ball to left fieldthat got stuck in the padding at the top of the fence. It wasruled a ground-rule double, and Wright delivered an RBI singlelater in the frame.


Alou extended his hitting streak to a career-best 23 games witha second-inning single.


"It doesn't matter," Alou said of the streak. "I just want towin games."


"He's hot," Randolph said. "He's carrying us in a lot of ways."

Meanwhile, Chico - who is winless in his last seven starts -allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings with threestrikeouts and one walk.


"I'm disappointed in my performance," Chico said. "I didn'thave my best stuff tonight."


Felipe Lopez had three hits for Washington, which had won eightof its previous 10 here.


"We played them hard," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "Ihappy that we were able to take two out of three games."