Desmond, Milone lead Nationals to sweep of slumping Mets

NEW YORK -- Boosted by the play of some blossoming youngsters, the Washington Nationals walked out of Citi Field with a series sweep and a new spot in the standings.

No wonder they're feeling pretty good about the future.

Ian Desmond had a career-high five hits and Tommy Milone earned his first major league win, leading Washington over the slumping New York Mets 10-1 on Thursday for a rare four-game sweep.

"I think you're seeing signs that we're starting to learn how to win," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "I think we're seeing a little maturation of how to play on the road and how to prepare on the road."

Desmond drove in three late runs from his leadoff spot and Ryan Zimmerman had two RBIs for the Nationals, who won their fifth straight overall and moved past the Mets into third place in the NL East.

The franchise has not finished third or higher since 2002, when it played in Montreal and ended the season in second place.

"We feel that we're going in the right direction," Rizzo said. "Our young players are getting opportunities and we're progressing. So I think it kind of shows not only our fan base, but the organization itself that we are improving. We've got some good young players and their talents in the minor leagues are starting to translate to the big leagues."

Making his third major league start, Milone (1-0) allowed one run and three hits in 5 2-3 innings. He became the second consecutive Nationals rookie starter to notch his first career victory, following Brad Peacock's 2-0 win Wednesday night.

"It feels great. It feels exactly how I wanted it to when I was a little kid," said Milone, who took three souvenir balls and a shaving-cream pie in the face from teammate John Lannan. "Hopefully, there's more games like this to come."

Wilson Ramos added three hits and three runs as Washington polished off its first road sweep of the season without even throwing prized prospect Stephen Strasburg. It was the Nationals' second four-game sweep since moving from Montreal to Washington for the 2005 season -- the other one came in Atlanta to end 2009.

"I've said it before: I think our minor league staff, as far as coaches, managers and player development, they're doing a great job of developing ballplayers," Desmond said. "They're not really out there looking for phenoms or whatever it may be. They're trying to put guys that know how to play the game from head to toe. That's the kind of guys we've got and I think the more guys that come up, the more we'll win."

After fighting through some critical injuries to stay competitive most of the season, the Mets are stumbling to the finish in September. It's an all-too-familiar refrain, even for the contending teams they fielded a few years ago.

New York has lost six straight, one shy of its longest skid this season, and finished 1-8 on the penultimate homestand of the season. The sluggish Mets (71-79) managed five runs in the four-game series and were outscored 48-26 on the homestand.

Moments after the latest loss, manager Terry Collins said he was "disgusted" with how his team has been playing and took the blame for the poor performance.

"The perception I have right now: We folded it up. And I won't stand for that," he said. "You want to see me be intense? You guys are going to see it. I don't play that game."

Third baseman David Wright committed his sixth error in six games and eighth in the last 10 before a sparse crowd of 22,205 on a dreary afternoon.

Chris Schwinden (0-2) tossed five solid innings in his second big league start but received little support on offence or defence. Struggling to drive in runners, New York has dropped eight of nine since pulling within a game of .500 and is closing in on a third straight losing season.

"Our fans should be upset. I don't blame them a bit," Collins said. "No energy, none at all, on the field. This is not the way we played all year long."

Both rookie starters remained in the game following a 40-minute rain delay in the bottom of the second.

With the bases loaded in the seventh, Todd Coffey retired Wright on an inning-ending flyout to preserve a 3-1 lead. Wright slammed his helmet in frustration.

Washington added three runs in the rainy eighth, including an RBI single by Desmond and a run-scoring double by Zimmerman.

Desmond added a two-run double in a four-run ninth against Manny Acosta.

"We definitely play with some energy here. Everybody comes ready to play, ready to win," Coffey said. "We're looking to set a precedent for next year."

NOTES: Strasburg makes his third major league start since Tommy John surgery on Saturday night against Florida. He was pulled after three innings in his most recent outing Sunday against Houston. "I had a short leash the first two. I'm going to have a little longer leash the third time out," manager Davey Johnson said. "As far as a specific pitch count, I'm not even going there. But I'll just go with what I see and what I think he's capable of doing without a whole lot of stress." ... Peacock will get another start next week, Johnson said. ... Mets SS Jose Reyes, leading the NL in hitting, was rested. He will play all three games in Atlanta this weekend, Collins said. ... The Nationals won the season series for the first time, 10-8.

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Strasburg solid in return but Nationals fall to Dodgers

WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg's lost year appeared to evaporate from the moment he started his walk from the bullpen. The crowd again gave him a standing ovation, all the way to the dugout. Washington Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty again joked he was the "Steve" the fans had come to see.

The radar gun again registered in the high 90s. The 90 mile-per-hour changeup remained almost unhittable. The main man himself downplayed his accomplishments, as he always does, while his manager, teammates and opponents exhausted their supply of superlatives.

In his first major league start since undergoing Tommy John surgery, the 2011 edition of Strasburg was every bit as impressive as the 2010 version that wowed the baseball world. The 23-year-old right-hander allowed two hits over five shutout innings before the bullpen blew the lead in the Nationals' 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"He was outstanding. He looked totally relaxed, totally in control," manager Davey Johnson said. "He had all his pitches working. He made it look easy. Real low pitch count. Looked strong at the end. ... It was just like he hadn't been out."

Last year's magical days of "Strasmus" came to an abrupt end when the 2009 No. 1 overall draft pick felt his elbow pop on Aug. 21 in Philadelphia, and his long road back began when he had the now-familiar, career-saving ligament replacement surgery last Sept. 3.

He wound his way through six minor league rehab starts with four teams in four states over the last month, culminating with a return to the majors that was easily the most anticipated event of the season for a Nationals club trying to avoid a fourth consecutive last-place NL East finish.

Day-long rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee threatened to postpone the game, but, when it came time to play, the weather put itself on hold for the pitcher wearing jersey No. 37 and those gotta-love-'em traditional high red knee-socks.

His workload carefully monitored, Strasburg threw 56 pitches, 40 for strikes. The fastball peaked at 99 m.p.h. He struck out four, didn't walk a batter, and a string of 11 retired in a row ended when Juan Rivera was generously given a hit for a ground ball that went under shortstop Ian Desmond's glove.

"The game seemed it was in slow motion out there," Strasburg said. "From what it felt like in the debut last year, I felt I'd kind of been through it before, so I was definitely a lot more relaxed out there, really focusing on just trying to execute pitches and get guys out."

Strasburg emphasized again he is much stronger than before, having spent his year conditioning the rest of his body. He's expected to get three more starts this season, but he doesn't expect the full payoff to come until 2012.

"It's not like I was waiting 368 days for this time," he said. "I'm still on a mission here. I wanted to get stronger, mentally and physically, through this process. I had something that I wanted to work on every single day. I didn't waste a minute waiting for this time to come, because I knew it was going to come sooner or later."

Strasburg was set to get the win when he departed with a 3-0 lead, but Dodgers tied it in the sixth. Then even the weather gave up on the game, at least temporarily, as the rain returned in the seventh to force a 31-minute delay and empty the ballpark of all but a hardy few.

Those that remained saw Rod Barajas' two-run double in the eighth inning off Henry Rodriguez (3-3) put the Dodgers ahead for good, giving Kelly Jansen (2-1) the win.

Strasburg even scored his first career run, part of a three-run second inning. He reached by laying down a sacrifice that turned into a two-base throwing error. Strasburg wound up at second on the play, went to third on Desmond's single and came home on Jayson Werth's groundout.

Of course, there was no way Strasburg could match his major league debut, when he struck out 14 Pittsburgh Pirates on June 8, 2010. He finished 5-3 as a rookie, with a 2.91 ERA in 12 starts.

Only a few thousand fans were in the stands when Strasburg started tossing in the outfield at 6:44 p.m., and there were dozens -- instead of hundreds -- peering over the railing when he entered the bullpen to start his warmups. More filtered in as the game went along, but Nationals Park was never more than half-full despite the announced attendance of 29,092 -- well short of the expected sellout.

The game started five minutes late, and Strasburg's first pitch was a 96 m.p.h. fastball that was fouled away by Dee Gordon. On a 2-1 pitch -- clocking 97 m.p.h. -- Gordon punched the ball to left-centre and legged out a double. He was left stranded when Strasburg retired the next three batters.

Strasburg started cruising in the second, striking out Andre Ethier with a 90 m.p.h. changeup and Aaron Miles with a 99 m.p.h. fastball. He worked fast -- just as he did as a rookie -- barely pausing between pitches and making everyone else look like slowpokes by comparison.

Sensing Strasburg's night was nearly done, the crowd was on its feet with two outs in the fifth. Strasburg rewarded them by getting Justin Sellers to foul out to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on a 97 m.p.h. fastball. Strasburg then headed toward the dugout, where he was greeted on the top step with a handshake from Johnson.

"He's someone that the Nationals should probably trade to us if they knew what was best for us," Dodgers starter Ted Lily said with a laugh. "Maybe things will work for him over here."

NOTES: Strasburg was activated from the 60-day disabled list before the game. The Nationals also recalled RHPs Yunesky Maya and Craig Stammen, LHP Atahualpa Severino and OF Corey Brown from triple-A Syracuse, and purchased the contracts of RHP Brad Peacock and INF Steve Lombardozzi from Syracuse. Peacock, Severino, Lombardozzi and Brown made their major league debuts. ... Washington moved RHP Cole Kimball (right shoulder) to the 60-day DL, released RHP Adam Carr and designated RHP Garrett Mock for assignment. ... The Dodgers recalled C Tim Federowicz, RHP John Ely and INF-OF Jerry Sands from Triple-A Albuquerque. ... Los Angeles 3B Casey Blake underwent season-ending surgery to repair a pinched nerve in his neck. ... RHP Chien-Ming Wang (2-3) will start for Washington on Wednesday against LHP Dana Eveland (1-0). Eveland is 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA in two games against Washington. ... Ramos has a 10-game hitting streak. ... Washington 2B Danny Espinosa struck out his first three times at the plate to give him seven Ks in a row, the longest streak by Nationals player since baseball returned to the nation's capital, according to STATS LLC.

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