Mets 7, Nationals 4 and Mets 3, Braves 3: Capuano and Murphy Strong, Perez Weak

At Home: Chris Capuano pitched very well as the Mets defeated the Nationals this afternoon. He threw 5.2 innings, striking out 5, walking none, and allowing merely 3 hits. With the appearance, Capuano more than doubled his innings pitched in spring training games.  

Pedro Beato came out of the bullpen and and got an out to end the 6th. He came back out for the 7th, put two men on base, and then gave way to Oliver Perez who gloriously gave up back-to-back home runs to Jeff Frazier and Brian Bixler. He also walked a batter and gave up another hit before exiting the game after only two-thirds of an inning.  Roy Merritt bailed him out by striking out Ian Desmond for the final out of the inning. Perez finally had an awful outing coming out of the bullpen, and his days with the team are surely numbered. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless inning, and Tim Byrdak continued his strong campaign to make the team with a scoreless 9th inning.

The Mets' bats had their way in this game, particularly against Jason Marquis. Every position player in the starting lineup reached base at least once. Jose Reyes, Scott Hairston, and Nick Evans each went 2-for-3, and Daniel Murphy went 3-for-5 while playing second base. The team scored 4 in the 1st and 3 in the 4th, and those 7 runs held up for the victory.

On the Road: The Mets gave Pat Misch the start, and he allowed 3 runs on 2 strikeouts and 1 walk in 5 innings of work. He was followed by Blaine Boyer and Taylor Buchholz, each of whom threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout. Ryota Igarashi pitched 2 scoreless innings after that and struck out 3. The game went into extra innings, giving Eric Niesen an appearance in which he retired the side in order to end the game in a tie.

In the run-scoring department, Willie Harris hit a solo home run, and Ike Davis went 2-for-4. Brad Emaus was 0-for-3 but drew 2 walks.

The stats for the second base candidates are now as follows:

The Mets visit the Marlins tomorrow at 1:05 pm, but the game will not be broadcast locally.

Game Thread Roll Call
Well this is appropriate for a game thread which included a tie: nice job by KeithsMoustache and Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan; their efforts in the game thread half-embiggen us all.