GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: NY METS (67-53) at WASHINGTON (55-66)

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">NY METS (6) VS WASHINGTON (2) - MID 9TH - IN PROGRESS

NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Reyes ss 3 1 0 0 2 0 2 .302
L Castillo 2b 5 0 2 0 0 0 3 .323
D Wright 3b 4 0 1 1 1 1 3 .309
C Beltran cf 3 1 1 0 2 1 2 .265
M Alou lf 5 1 1 1 0 1 7 .313
D Easley 1b 4 2 1 1 1 0 3 .272
S Green rf 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .271
M DiFelice c 3 0 1 3 0 0 0 .278
T Glavine p 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .227
a-R Gotay ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .343
J Sosa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .208
P Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 32 6 8 6 9 4 20

a-walked for T Glavine in the 8th.

BATTING: 3B - M DiFelice (1, R King). HR - D Easley (10, 2nd inning off M Chico
0 on, 0 Out), M Alou (9, 4th inning off M Chico 0 on, 0 Out). SF - M DiFelice.
RBI - D Easley (26), D Wright (77), M Alou (29), M DiFelice 3 (4). 2-out RBI -
M DiFelice 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - D Easley 1, M Alou 2, D
Wright 1, J Reyes 1. Team LOB - 9.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Reyes 2 (62, 2nd base off M Chico/B Schneider 2). CS - D
Wright (3, 2nd base by M Chico).

FIELDING: DP: 2 (J Reyes-L Castillo-D Easley, J Reyes-D Easley).


WASHINGTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
F Lopez ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .249
R Belliard 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .279
R Zimmerman 3b 4 2 3 0 0 0 1 .268
D Young 1b 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 .334
A Kearns rf 3 0 2 1 1 0 2 .253
R Church lf 4 0 1 0 0 2 3 .265
B Schneider c 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .234
N Logan cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .271
C Schroder p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R King p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
L Ayala p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Chico p 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .162
M Bacsik p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .130
R Langerhans cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .156

Totals 32 2 10 2 1 6 11

BATTING: 2B - D Young (31, T Glavine); R Zimmerman (30, J Sosa). RBI - D Young
(64), A Kearns (49). 2-out RBI - D Young. Runners left in scoring position, 2
out - N Logan 2, R Church 1, A Kearns 1. GIDP - R Zimmerman, R Church. Team LOB
- 7.

FIELDING: E - B Schneider (5, throw). Outfield assists - N Logan (S Green at
2nd base).


----------------------------------------------------
NY METS - 011 200 020 -- 6
WASHINGTON - 001 000 01 -- 2
----------------------------------------------------

NY METS ip h r er bb so hr era
T Glavine 7 8 1 1 1 6 0 4.12
J Sosa 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 0 4.18
P Feliciano 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.93

WASHINGTON ip h r er bb so hr era
M Chico 4 1/3 5 4 4 5 2 2 4.96
M Bacsik 2 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 4.61
C Schroder 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1.80
R King 1/3 1 1 1 2 0 0 5.16
L Ayala 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2.59

Pitches-strikes: T Glavine 116-70; J Sosa 10-5; P Feliciano 2-1; M Chico
90-48; M Bacsik 28-19; C Schroder 21-11; R King 20-10; L Ayala 12-9. Ground
balls-fly balls: T Glavine 10-5; J Sosa 1-0; P Feliciano 2-0; M Chico 4-5; M
Bacsik 4-2; C Schroder 0-2; R King 0-1; L Ayala 1-2. Batters faced: T Glavine
29; J Sosa 3; P Feliciano 1; M Chico 21; M Bacsik 8; C Schroder 4; R King 4; L
Ayala 5.

UMPIRES: HP--Joe West. 1B--Ed Rapuano. 2B--Ed Hickox. 3B--C.B. Bucknor.

Weather: 90 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 14 mph, in from left.</div>

 

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">NL AT WASHINGTON - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: D Jimenez hit for L Ayala.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 6
WASHINGTON 2 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: D Jimenez (.170, 0 HR, 3 RBI)</div>

 

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">NL AT WASHINGTON - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Flores hit for R Langerhans.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 6
WASHINGTON 2 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: J Flores (.233, 3 HR, 17 RBI)</div>

 

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
NY METS 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 6 8 0
WASHINGTON 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 10 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: NYM - TOM GLAVINE, JORGE SOSA (8TH), PEDRO FELICIANO (8TH) AND MIKE
DIFELICE

WAS - MATT CHICO, MIKE BACSIK (5TH), CHRIS SCHRODER
(7TH), RAY KING (8TH), LUIS AYALA (9TH) AND BRIAN SCHNEIDER

HOME RUNS: NYM - DAMION EASLEY (10) OFF MATT CHICO IN THE 2ND, 0 ON
MOISES ALOU (9) OFF MATT CHICO IN THE 4TH, 0 ON

WAS - NONE</div>

 

Glavine celebrates anniversary of debut with win

<h3>NY METS 6, WASHINGTON 2</h3>WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Tom Glavine celebrated the 20-yearanniversary of his major-league debut with another strongperformance.


Glavine threw seven solid innings to earn career win No. 301 andMoises Alou homered as the New York Mets posted a 6-2 victoryover the Washington Nationals on Friday.


Damion Easley homered and scored twice for New York (68-53),which has won 18 of the last 23 meetings here, and leads thePhiladelphia Phillies (65-56) by three games, and the AtlantaBraves (64-58) by 4 1/2 games in the National League East.

Glavine(11-6), who made his major league debut on August 17,1987 for the Atlanta Braves, limited the Nationals to one run,scattering eight hits with a season-high six strikeouts to pickup his first win since notching No. 300 against the Chicago Cubson August 5.


The 41-year-old lefthander went 2-4 in his first season and thenled the league in losses the following season. However, sincethen he has done nothing but win, posting four 20-win seasonsand earning a pair of Cy Young Awards.


In this one the future Hall of Famer got some early support fromEasley, who was playing first base in place of Carlos Delgado.Delgado missed his second straight game with a hyperextendedleft knee.


Easley did his best impression of Delgado blasting a solo homer- his 10th of the season - to left-center field off Washingtonrookie starter Matt Chico (5-7) to lead off the second inningand put the Mets up 1-0.


New York extended the lead to 2-0 in the third, as Jose Reyesled off with a walk and stole second, before scoring on a singleto left-center by David Wright.


After Dmitri Young cut the lead to 2-1 with an RBI double in thethird, Alou blasted his fifth homer in seven games - a soloshot to left field that landed just out of the reach of aleaping Ryan Church.


Easley followed with a walk and advanced to third on a single byShawn Green. Mike DiFelice then plated Easley with a sacrificefly to left to make the score 4-1.


That was enough for Glavine, who allowed just one extra-basehit, and is unbeaten in his last seven starts.


DiFelice stretched the lead to 6-1 with a two-run triple toright in the eighth, as the Mets took advantage of nine walksissued by Nationals pitchers to improve to a major-league best26-14 in series openers.


Jorge Sosa got the first out of the eight before giving way toPedro Feliciano, who threw the final 1 1/3 innings to help theMets rebound from Thursday's loss to Pittsburgh in which thebullpen blew leads of 5-0 and 7-3.


Ryan Zimmerman had three hits for Washington, which lost forjust the third time in 12 games here.

 

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
NY METS 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 6 8 0
WASHINGTON 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 10 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: NYM - TOM GLAVINE, JORGE SOSA (8TH), PEDRO FELICIANO (8TH) AND MIKE
DIFELICE

WAS - MATT CHICO, MIKE BACSIK (5TH), CHRIS SCHRODER
(7TH), RAY KING (8TH), LUIS AYALA (9TH) AND BRIAN SCHNEIDER


WP - TOM GLAVINE (11-6)
LP - MATT CHICO (5-7)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: NYM - DAMION EASLEY (10) OFF MATT CHICO IN THE 2ND, 0 ON
MOISES ALOU (9) OFF MATT CHICO IN THE 4TH, 0 ON

WAS - NONE


TIME: 3:09 ATT: 23,636

PROBABLES: NYM - OLIVER PEREZ (10-8, 3.46)
WAS - JOHN LANNAN (1-1, 3.00)</div>

 

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">NY METS (6) VS WASHINGTON (2) - FINAL

NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Reyes ss 3 1 0 0 2 0 2 .302
L Castillo 2b 5 0 2 0 0 0 3 .323
D Wright 3b 4 0 1 1 1 1 3 .309
C Beltran cf 3 1 1 0 2 1 2 .265
M Alou lf 5 1 1 1 0 1 7 .313
D Easley 1b 4 2 1 1 1 0 3 .272
S Green rf 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .271
M DiFelice c 3 0 1 3 0 0 0 .278
T Glavine p 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .227
a-R Gotay ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .343
J Sosa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .208
P Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 32 6 8 6 9 4 20

a-walked for T Glavine in the 8th.

BATTING: 3B - M DiFelice (1, R King). HR - D Easley (10, 2nd inning off M Chico
0 on, 0 Out), M Alou (9, 4th inning off M Chico 0 on, 0 Out). SF - M DiFelice.
RBI - D Easley (26), D Wright (77), M Alou (29), M DiFelice 3 (4). 2-out RBI -
M DiFelice 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - D Easley 1, M Alou 2, D
Wright 1, J Reyes 1. Team LOB - 9.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Reyes 2 (62, 2nd base off M Chico/B Schneider 2). CS - D
Wright (3, 2nd base by M Chico).

FIELDING: DP: 2 (J Reyes-L Castillo-D Easley, J Reyes-D Easley).


WASHINGTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
F Lopez ss 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 .248
R Belliard 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .279
R Zimmerman 3b 4 2 3 0 0 0 1 .268
D Young 1b 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 .334
A Kearns rf 3 0 2 1 1 0 2 .253
R Church lf 4 0 1 0 0 2 3 .265
B Schneider c 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .233
N Logan cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .271
C Schroder p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R King p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
L Ayala p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-D Jimenez ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .167
M Chico p 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .162
M Bacsik p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .130
R Langerhans cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .156
b-J Flores ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .233

Totals 35 2 10 2 2 7 12

a-struck out looking for L Ayala in the 9th; b-walked for R Langerhans in the
9th.

BATTING: 2B - D Young (31, T Glavine); R Zimmerman (30, J Sosa). RBI - D Young
(64), A Kearns (49). 2-out RBI - D Young. Runners left in scoring position, 2
out - N Logan 2, R Church 1, A Kearns 1. GIDP - R Zimmerman, R Church. Team LOB
- 8.

FIELDING: E - B Schneider (5, throw). Outfield assists - N Logan (S Green at
2nd base).


----------------------------------------------------
NY METS - 011 200 020 -- 6
WASHINGTON - 001 000 010 -- 2
----------------------------------------------------

NY METS ip h r er bb so hr era
T Glavine (W, 11-6) 7 8 1 1 1 6 0 4.12
J Sosa 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 0 4.18
P Feliciano 1 2/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.86

WASHINGTON ip h r er bb so hr era
M Chico (L, 5-7) 4 1/3 5 4 4 5 2 2 4.96
M Bacsik 2 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 4.61
C Schroder 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1.80
R King 1/3 1 1 1 2 0 0 5.16
L Ayala 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2.59

Pitches-strikes: T Glavine 116-70; J Sosa 10-5; P Feliciano 15-8; M Chico
90-48; M Bacsik 28-19; C Schroder 21-11; R King 20-10; L Ayala 12-9. Ground
balls-fly balls: T Glavine 10-5; J Sosa 1-0; P Feliciano 3-1; M Chico 4-5; M
Bacsik 4-2; C Schroder 0-2; R King 0-1; L Ayala 1-2. Batters faced: T Glavine
29; J Sosa 3; P Feliciano 5; M Chico 21; M Bacsik 8; C Schroder 4; R King 4; L
Ayala 5.

UMPIRES: HP--Joe West. 1B--Ed Rapuano. 2B--Ed Hickox. 3B--C.B. Bucknor.

T--3:09. Att--23,636.
Weather: 90 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 14 mph, in
from left.</div>

 

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
NY METS 6
WASHINGTON 2 FINAL</div>

 

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NY METS (6) AT WASHINGTON (2) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NY METS 2ND: D Easley homered to left center. S Green struck out swinging.
M DiFelice grounded out to shortstop. T Glavine grounded out to shortstop.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY METS 1, WASHINGTON 0.

NY METS 3RD: J Reyes walked. L Castillo fouled out to first. J Reyes
stole second, J Reyes safe at third on throwing error by catcher B Schneider.
D Wright singled to left center, J Reyes scored. D Wright caught stealing
second, pitcher to first to second. C Beltran struck out looking. (1 Run,
1 Hit, 1 Error) NY METS 2, WASHINGTON 0.

WASHINGTON 3RD: F Lopez grounded out to shortstop. R Belliard flied out to
right. R Zimmerman singled to left. D Young doubled to deep center,
R Zimmerman scored. A Kearns walked. R Church struck out swinging. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 2, WASHINGTON 1.

NY METS 4TH: M Alou homered to left. D Easley walked. S Green singled to
center, D Easley to third, S Green out stretching at second. M DiFelice hit
sacrifice fly to left, D Easley scored. T Glavine lined out to center.
(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 4, WASHINGTON 1.

NY METS 8TH: C Beltran walked. M Alou flied out to left. D Easley lined
out to shortstop. R King relieved C Schroder. S Green walked, C Beltran to
second. M DiFelice tripled to deep right, C Beltran and S Green scored.
R Gotay hit for T Glavine. R Gotay walked. J Reyes flied out to center. (2 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY METS 6, WASHINGTON 1.

WASHINGTON 8TH: J Sosa relieved T Glavine. R Zimmerman doubled to deep left
center. D Young grounded out to shortstop, R Zimmerman to third. A Kearns
singled to left, R Zimmerman scored. P Feliciano relieved J Sosa. R Church
grounded into double play, shortstop to first, A Kearns out at second.(1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 6, WASHINGTON 2.</div>

 

NL: NY METS at WASHINGTON

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NY METS (6) AT WASHINGTON (2) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ny Mets Starting Lineups -- J Reyes SS, L Castillo 2B, D Wright 3B,
C Beltran CF, M Alou LF, D Easley 1B, S Green RF, M DiFelice C, T Glavine LHP.

Washington Starting Lineups -- F Lopez SS, R Belliard 2B, R Zimmerman 3B,
D Young 1B, A Kearns RF, R Church LF, B Schneider C, N Logan CF, M Chico LHP.

Umpires -- Joe West (HP), Ed Rapuano (1B), Ed Hickox (2B), C.B. Bucknor (3B).


Gametime Weather: 90 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from left at 14 mph.


NY METS 1ST: J Reyes popped out to second. L Castillo singled to right.
D Wright flied out to right. C Beltran walked, L Castillo to second. M Alou
grounded into fielder's choice to third, C Beltran out at second. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY METS 0, WASHINGTON 0.

WASHINGTON 1ST: F Lopez grounded out to shortstop. R Belliard grounded out
to shortstop. R Zimmerman singled to center. D Young singled to left,
R Zimmerman to second. A Kearns grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) NY METS 0, WASHINGTON 0.

NY METS 2ND: D Easley homered to left center. S Green struck out swinging.
M DiFelice grounded out to shortstop. T Glavine grounded out to shortstop.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY METS 1, WASHINGTON 0.

WASHINGTON 2ND: R Church struck out looking. B Schneider singled to left.
N Logan flied out to center. M Chico grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) NY METS 1, WASHINGTON 0.

NY METS 3RD: J Reyes walked. L Castillo fouled out to first. J Reyes
stole second, J Reyes safe at third on throwing error by catcher B Schneider.
D Wright singled to left center, J Reyes scored. D Wright caught stealing
second, pitcher to first to second. C Beltran struck out looking. (1 Run,
1 Hit, 1 Error) NY METS 2, WASHINGTON 0.

WASHINGTON 3RD: F Lopez grounded out to shortstop. R Belliard flied out to
right. R Zimmerman singled to left. D Young doubled to deep center,
R Zimmerman scored. A Kearns walked. R Church struck out swinging. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 2, WASHINGTON 1.

NY METS 4TH: M Alou homered to left. D Easley walked. S Green singled to
center, D Easley to third, S Green out stretching at second. M DiFelice hit
sacrifice fly to left, D Easley scored. T Glavine lined out to center.
(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 4, WASHINGTON 1.

WASHINGTON 4TH: B Schneider grounded out to first. N Logan bunt grounded
out to catcher. M Chico struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
NY METS 4, WASHINGTON 1.

NY METS 5TH: J Reyes walked. J Reyes stole second. L Castillo grounded out
to third. D Wright walked. M Bacsik relieved M Chico. C Beltran grounded into
fielder's choice to third, D Wright out at second, J Reyes to third. M Alou
struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 4, WASHINGTON 1.

WASHINGTON 5TH: F Lopez singled to right. R Belliard flied out to center.
R Zimmerman grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, F Lopez
out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY METS 4, WASHINGTON 1.

NY METS 6TH: D Easley grounded out to second. S Green flied out to left.
M DiFelice grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 4,
WASHINGTON 1.

WASHINGTON 6TH: D Young struck out swinging. A Kearns singled to center.
R Church singled to right, A Kearns to second. B Schneider grounded out to
pitcher, A Kearns to third, R Church to second. N Logan lined out to first.
(0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 4, WASHINGTON 1.

NY METS 7TH: T Glavine walked. J Reyes grounded out to first, T Glavine to
second. L Castillo flied out to left. C Schroder relieved M Bacsik.
R Langerhans in center field. D Wright struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) NY METS 4, WASHINGTON 1.

WASHINGTON 7TH: R Langerhans struck out swinging. F Lopez popped out to
shortstop. R Belliard struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 4, WASHINGTON 1.

NY METS 8TH: C Beltran walked. M Alou flied out to left. D Easley lined
out to shortstop. R King relieved C Schroder. S Green walked, C Beltran to
second. M DiFelice tripled to deep right, C Beltran and S Green scored.
R Gotay hit for T Glavine. R Gotay walked. J Reyes flied out to center. (2 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY METS 6, WASHINGTON 1.

WASHINGTON 8TH: J Sosa relieved T Glavine. R Zimmerman doubled to deep left
center. D Young grounded out to shortstop, R Zimmerman to third. A Kearns
singled to left, R Zimmerman scored. P Feliciano relieved J Sosa. R Church
grounded into double play, shortstop to first, A Kearns out at second.(1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 6, WASHINGTON 2.

NY METS 9TH: L Ayala relieved R King. L Castillo singled to left. D Wright
flied out to center. C Beltran singled to right, L Castillo to second. M Alou
flied out to left. D Easley grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
NY METS 6, WASHINGTON 2.

WASHINGTON 9TH: B Schneider grounded out to first. D Jimenez hit for
L Ayala. D Jimenez struck out looking. J Flores hit for R Langerhans. J Flores
walked. F Lopez lined out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY METS 6,
WASHINGTON 2.</div>

 

Glavine celebrates anniversary of debut with win

<h3>NY METS 6, WASHINGTON 2</h3>WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Tom Glavine celebrated the 20-yearanniversary of his major-league debut with another strongperformance.


Glavine threw seven solid innings to earn career win No. 301 andMoises Alou homered as the New York Mets posted a 6-2 victoryover the Washington Nationals on Friday.


Glavine helped the Mets rebound from a disheartening loss toPittsburgh in which the bullpen blew leads of 5-0 and 7-3 onThursday.


"It means a lot because we needed it," he said. "We reallyneeded it tonight. It was psychologically a tough lossyesterday. You hate losing games like that, losing big leads.I wanted to go deep in the game and give the guys in the bullpena break tonight. That was my goal."


Damion Easley homered and scored twice for New York (68-53),which has won 18 of its last 23 visits here and leads thePhiladelphia Phillies (65-56) by three games and the AtlantaBraves (64-58) by 4 1/2 in the National League East Division.

"I'm just trying to help the team win a ballgame," Easley said."So far, so good."


"He's extremely valuable to this team," Glavine said. "He canplay a bunch of different positions and is a true professional.He always gives everything he's got."


Glavine(11-6), who made his major league debut on August 17,1987 for the Braves, limited the Nationals to one run and eighthits while notching a season-high six strikeouts en route to hisfirst win since getting No. 300 against the Chicago Cubs onAugust 5.


"Tom did an outstanding job for us tonight," Met manager WillieRandolph said. "He's a leader, and that is what leaders do."

The 41-year-old lefthander went 2-4 in his first season and ledthe league in losses the following year. However, since then,he has done nothing but win, posting four 20-win seasons andearning a pair of Cy Young Awards.


In this one, the future Hall of Famer got some early supportfrom Easley, who was playing first base in place of CarlosDelgado. Delgado missed his second straight game with ahyperextended left knee.


Easley did his best impression of Delgado, blasting a homer -his 10th of the season - to left-center field off Washingtonrookie starter Matt Chico (5-7) to lead off the second inningand put the Mets up, 1-0.


"I certainly don't have his (Delgado's) power," Easley said.

New York doubled the lead in the third as Jose Reyes led offwith a walk and stole second before scoring on a single toleft-center by David Wright.


"I just try to put pressure on the other team," said Reyes, wholeads the majors with 62 steals.


After Dmitri Young halved the deficit to 2-1 with an RBI doublein the third, Alou blasted his fifth homer in seven games - asolo shot to left field that landed just out of the reach of aleaping Ryan Church.


Easley followed with a walk and advanced to third on a single byShawn Green. Mike DiFelice then plated Easley with a sacrificefly to left, extending the Mets' lead to 4-1.


That was enough for Glavine, who allowed just one extra-base hitand remained unbeaten in his last seven starts.


"Glavine threw the ball so well tonight, we just try to make theplays for him," Reyes said.


DiFelice stretched the lead to 6-1 with a two-run triple toright in the eighth, as the Mets took advantage of nine walksissued by Washington pitchers to improve to a major league-best26-14 in series openers.


Jorge Sosa got the first out of the eighth before giving way toPedro Feliciano, who worked the final 1 1/3 innings.

Ryan Zimmerman had three hits for Washington, which lost forjust the third time in 12 games here.