Pirate Galaxy » we should have. I was tryin

WASHINGTON -- Marlon Byrd called his shots during batting practice, when he was chatting away with teammate Anthony Recker. "I told Reck I was feeling good in BP," Byrd said. "And I was joking around with him, I said, Hey, if I get some pitches tonight, Im going to hit two home runs." Sure enough, Byrd planted a pair beyond the left-field wall Wednesday night, maintaining his mastery of Dan Haren as the New York Mets snapped a four-game skid with a 10-1 rout of the Washington Nationals. "Thats teammates talking trash," Byrd said. "And that it happened is something crazy. It doesnt happen too much, Ill tell you that." The win put the Mets above .400 and the Nationals below .500 -- a succinct reflection of the mixed fortunes of both clubs -- and also dropped preseason favourite Washington to third place behind Philadelphia in the NL East. The Nationals trail division-leading Atlanta by eight games. For the Mets, it was their best run output since early April, a rare comfortable win in a challenging season. "We needed one very bad," manager Terry Collins said. "We have certainly been in our share of close games all year, on both ends of it. To have a game where we just take a deep breath and relax a little bit was certainly welcomed and needed." Byrd hit a two-run homer in the second and a solo shot in the third, making him 10 for 18 in his career against Haren (4-7). David Wright, in a 1-for-18 slump entering the game, also homered in the third inning and singled and scored in New Yorks two-run fifth. Recker doubled his season RBI total from three to six with a pair of hits, and rookie centre fielder Juan Lagares had his first three-hit game in the majors. Even pitcher Dillon Gee joined in the hitting fun. When he singled in the seventh, it meant that all nine Mets starters had at least one hit. On the mound, Gee (4-6) allowed one run over seven innings in his second consecutive solid start after his spot in the rotation had been put in doubt by a series of short outings. The run came in the first inning when Byrd misplayed a double by Denard Span, who then scored on a single by Ian Desmond. "I cant be satisfied," Gee said. "Ive got to continue to do it. It feels good to do it again, give the team a chance to win, but the guys did an awesome job, scored a bunch of runs." The Nationals felt buoyed by a ninth-inning comeback in the series opener Tuesday, the first time they had come from behind to win this season when trailing after the sixth inning. Manager Davey Johnson was clean-shaven Wednesday, ending a razor boycott he had said would last until his team started hitting. But Washingtons bats remained cold. The Nationals scored 11 runs while hitting .197 with 42 strikeouts over six games. They had men on second and third with one out in the fourth inning, but Span struck out swinging and Jayson Werth struck out looking. "Boy, its been difficult," Johnson said. "But it seems like they were swinging the bats a little bit better tonight. Just didnt hit with men on base. Its frustrating." The Nationals lost for the ninth time by six or more runs, passing last years total of eight with more than 100 games to go. Meanwhile, the starting rotation that has performed so well is showing some cracks. Stephen Strasburg, sidelined with a strained back muscle, joined Ross Detwiler on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday. And Haren? His ERA is now 5.45. "I feel bad for the guys, letting them down. I cant be this inconsistent," he said. "Im the same guy five days ago that went through one of the toughest lineups in baseball and kept us there. And then lay another egg tonight. Its just -- I gotta be better." NOTES: Black smoke was visible beyond the right-field bleachers throughout the game, the result of a fire at a hardware store about a mile away. The smoke wafted over the dome of the nearby U.S. Capitol nearby but did not drift over the ballpark and had no effect on the game. ... Nationals LHP Ian Krol made his major league debut by pitching a scoreless sixth, and Anthony Rendon made his first major league start at second base, taking over the position now that Danny Espinosa is on the DL. ... Mets LHP Jonathon Niese threw a bullpen session and said he feels on target to return to the rotation Saturday after missing one start with a sore shoulder. ... Collins said RHP Jeurys Familia might be done for the season after having surgery to remove bone spurs and loose bodies in the right elbow. "I dont think well have him this year," Collins said.Buy Air Max Australia . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Chaep Air Max 200 . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. http://www.outletairmaxaustralia.com/air-max-200-buy-australia.html . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Air Max 720 Australia . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Nike Off White Shoes Australia . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead.ATLANTA -- New York Mets manager Terry Collins fell on his sword Saturday, taking responsibility for not recognizing the need for a pinch runner on what became a potentially game-deciding play.The strategic lapse resulted shortly thereafter in a painful neck injury for Wilmer Flores and a stinging 4-3 defeat to the Atlanta Braves in 10 innings at Turner Field.The Mets (75-67) fell out of the second wild-card position as their six-game winning streak snapped. They now trail the San Francisco Giants by 1? games and the St. Louis Cardinals by a half-game for the two wild-card spots.Flores had produced a two-out double in the top of the eighth with the score tied at 3. Collins said he was distracted by setting up his pitching for the next half-inning and did not recognize to pinch run for the slow-footed Flores. When pinch hitter T.J. Rivera followed with a single, right fielder Nick Markakis threw out Flores at the plate.To add injury to insult, Flores went headfirst into catcher A.J. Pierzynski and had to depart the game with a neck injury. X-rays taken at Turner Field were negative. Flores said he initially felt really weird and dizzy. That subsided, but his neck remained painful after the game. He did not requuire concussion testing.ddddddddddddI should have ran for him there, Collins said. I was trying to get the pitching set up. My fault. ... Hes going to have a stiff neck. But we certainly have enough guys. We could have ran for him, which we should have. I was trying to get the pitching set up and get a pinch hitter in and got distracted. Its my fault.Whats more, Pierzynski sent out signals postgame that he was retiring. He even passed out cigars to teammates and did not officially acknowledge any plans to Atlanta reporters.Flores has stepped into the primary second-base role with Neil Walker having undergone surgery Thursday to address a herniated disk in his lower back that was causing numbness in a toe.Im just really sore -- my neck and back, Flores said. I feel a lot of pain right now. If you watch the play, home plate was open. I saw it open and my first thought was a head[first] slide, avoid the tag. When I was head[first] sliding, he got the ball and he ran right into me. Its one of those plays where I really want to score, and I tried to do too much and thats why I got hurt. ' ' '