Nationals relish playing spoiler
They're 16 games below .500 and a team no contender wants to play. But the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies each must deal with the upstart Washington Nationals down the stretch.
The Mets, who watched four-run leads vanish in D.C. both Monday and Tuesday nights, will host Washington for three games next week. The Phillies play four games at Washington this weekend, then host the Nationals for the final three games of the regular season.
The Nationals are 6-9 against the Mets, 4-7 against the Phillies.
"We have a chance to be a player in all this stuff," said Washington closer Chad Cordero, who struck out pinch-hitter Ruben Gotay with the tying run at third to preserve Tuesday's 9-8 victory. "That whole ninth inning was a little more (intense) than normal. We're not going to give in to any teams."
The Nationals have lost 21 of 24 games at home against New York.
"This is their pennant race and that's the way they're treating it," said Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton, a Nationals TV analyst. "I can remember playing on ballclubs when we had a chance to dictate the outcome (in September). You amp up a little bit for that. But it's not going to be too long before somebody is asking, 'How do we spoil it for these' " Nationals?
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