Milone again leads the way as Nats sweep Mets (updated)

They aren't going to score 25 runs every night, the Nationals very much know this. Given the inconsistent nature of their offensive performance this season, they know their best path to a late-season surge is going to come from their pitching staff, first and foremost a rotation that has surprisingly underachieved all summer.

Who would have imagined, though, that salvation would come in the form of Tommy Milone?

Yes, Tommy Milone. The long-ago Nationals prospect who was among the players sent to Oakland way back in 2011 for Gio Gonzalez, who has spent the ensuing seven years bouncing around from franchise to franchise, from the majors to Triple-A. The guy who last week was given a chance to reunite with his original organization and has now seized the opportunity and helped his team win two crucial games in the process.

"It's huge," he said. "That's exactly the spot you want to be in, really. I'm excited to be here. I'm happy I'm getting this opportunity."

So are the Nationals. With seven more innings of one-run ball this afternoon against the Mets, Milone led his club to a 5-3 victory, a two-game series sweep and a continuation of good vibes on the field in spite of whatever is currently happening off the field.

This win (combined with the Phillies' day off) moved the Nats to within five games of first place in the National League East. They've picked up two games in the standings in the last six days.

"This is a pivotal time of year," manager Davey Martinez said. "But the last two days, you've seen what they've done. All the trade talks, and all the stuff, it's frustrating to hear all those things. But they know: This is what they are. This is what we are going forward. And we've got a chance to do something special."

Summoned from Syracuse when Stephen Strasburg returned to the disabled list, Milone has now pitched the Nationals to wins in each of his starts. In 12 innings, he has allowed four runs, hasn't walked a batter and has struck out 15.

And, in a remarkable quirk dating back to the one month he spent in D.C. as a rookie, the Nationals now are a perfect 7-0 all-time in games Milone started for them.

"It's been kind of a rollercoaster ride, really," the 31-year-old said. "I spent the last couple years trying to get back to my old self, and midway through the Triple-A season, I felt like I found it. I'm just trying to roll with it."

If there was any fear the Nationals would follow up Tuesday night's 25-run explosion with an offensive dud, those were quickly allayed. Four batters into the bottom of the first, they already had a run off Noah Syndergaard, getting a two-out RBI single up the middle from Bryce Harper to score Trea Turner.

Two innings later came the big blast. Moments after Turner doubled and then stole third (his fourth swiped base of the series), Anthony Rendon launched a pitch from Syndergaard deep to left and over the wall for his 16th home run of the season.

"Getting in front there at the beginning ... we were getting a strong start out of Milone right there," Harper said. "Feel like getting some runs on the board is huge. Syndergaard's one of the best in baseball."

Up 3-0 early, the Nationals might have given fans in attendance (and possibly the Mets as well) reason to think another fireworks display was in order. That didn't happen, with Syndergaard retiring 12 in a row following the Rendon homer to keep things close.

Fortunately, Milone wouldn't let the Mets get anywhere beyond close.

The journeyman lefty had pitched at Nationals Park last year - as a member of the Mets, as it turns out - but this was the first time he had pitched here in a home uniform since September 2011, when he first made a name for himself as a rookie with a potentially bright future in the organization.

Times have changed considerably - for Milone and for the Nationals - since then. What hasn't changed, though, is his penchant for helping this team win. Even if he didn't earn the decision himself, the Nats won each of the five games Milone started for them in 2011, then again last week in Miami.

He did everything in his power today to extend that streak. Against an admittedly patchwork Mets lineup, Milone retired the first seven batters he faced and racked up six strikeouts in his first three innings.

And then he kept it up. The only dent on his pitching line: A solo homer by José Reyes in the top of the fifth, one that wasn't hit particularly well but was hit just high enough and just in the right spot to land just next to the left field foul pole.

That blast trimmed the Nationals' lead to 3-1, but that's as close as Milone would let the opposition get during his time on the mound. He departed after the seventh having allowed only three hits, again issuing zero walks and again putting his team in position to win a game.

"At one point, I thought: 'If we get five (innings), great,'" Martinez said. "And he looked good. So I said: 'Hey, leave him out.' We got six, I said: 'Let him go out there again and see what happens.' He was really good."

Ryan Madson let the Mets draw within a run when he served up a leadoff homer to Reyes in the top of the eighth. But the veteran setup man's teammates picked him up with two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, and that gave Kelvin Herrera some cushion - he wound up allowing a solo homer and letting the go-ahead run step to the plate before inducing a game-ending double play - en route to his second save since joining the Nationals.

At 54-53, the Nats are back over .500. Whether they actually ride a wave of positive momentum for the first time in a long time depends on their ability to find some semblance of consistency and to move beyond the disruptions of the last 48 hours.

"Everything's behind us now," Martinez said. "The trade deadline. Everything. I told those guys: 'If we play baseball like we're capable of playing, this is going to be really interesting.'"