NewsMets on short end of low-scoring opener
Figueroa solid, but Tatis' sacrifice fly all bats can muster
By Ryan Colaianni / Special to MLB.com
09/28/09 11:05 PM ET
WASHINGTON -- On Monday night, Mets starter Nelson Figueroa pitched well enough to get a win, but he ended up with a loss for the fifth consecutive start, falling, 2-1, to the Nationals.Figueroa went six innings, giving up two runs and six hits, but he barely got any run support. The Mets left eight men on base against the Nationals, who snapped a four-game losing streak, and Figueroa gave up a sixth-inning solo home run to Mike Morse to drop to 2-8 on the year.
"It is like that Groundhog Day that you want to wake up from, and it keeps happening," Figueroa said. "I am definitely not someone who is going to sit there and say, 'Well, at least I put forth a good effort.' I am tired of losing. I hate losing. I am tired of my name being associated with losing."
Figueroa's performance on Monday night was his second successive quality start, following a 126-pitch effort against the Braves last Tuesday in which he gave up just two runs in seven innings.
The loss was the Mets' 90th of the year, their most since 2004, when they lost 91 games.
The offense struggled so much with runners on base that Figueroa was looked to for a clutch hit after the Mets tied the game at 1 in the top of the sixth. He came to bat with runners at second and third with two outs in the sixth inning, looking to help his own cause. Figueroa battled to a 2-2 count against Nationals starter Ross Detwiler, but eventually struck out to end the inning.
"We're hoping for me to save the day with the bat," Figueroa said. "It is not a promising situation."
Manager Jerry Manuel said that he may have considered pinch-hitting for Figueroa if there were fewer than two outs and they felt like they had a chance to break the game open.
"You feel like you would have enough offense to muster a run or two runs after that, but that wasn't the case," Manuel said.
Detwiler (1-6) went six innings, giving up seven hits and one run while striking out three to win his first big league game. It was the first time in his career that he faced the Mets, and it was his best start since a six-inning, one-run outing against the Orioles on May 24.
"It feels great," Detwiler said. "It kinds of feels like I got the pressure off myself to get that first victory."
The Mets' lone run of the game came on an RBI single from first baseman Fernando Tatis in the top of the sixth.
Carlos Beltran led off the sixth with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a Detwiler wild pitch. After a Jeff Francouer strikeout, Tatis drove an 0-2 fastball up the middle for an RBI single to score Beltran and tie the game.
For the Nationals, Justin Maxwell led off the inning with a double on a line drive that went off third baseman David Wright's glove. After a groundout advanced Maxwell to third, Ryan Zimmerman drove Maxwell in with a fly ball to right field for his 102nd RBI.
"[Figueroa] could have possibly gone unscathed [in the first] if we played a little defense, so you have to consider that," Manuel said. "If we make a play the first inning, he really could have gone unscathed except for the home run in the sixth. I thought he pitched very well."
Ryan Colaianni is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
