Cole tough on himself after rough start, Espinosa homers (Nats outslugged 11-9)

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP

Score: Mets 11, Nationals 9

Recap: Prospect A.J. Cole gave up a run on four hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings in his first start of the spring. Curtis Granderson homered off Cole in the first and Michael Cuddyer took reliever Evan Meek deep in the third. Nats center fielder Michael A. Taylor delivered a two-out double in the third, scoring Nate McLouth and Danny Espinosa. Espinosa later homered in the sixth to give the Nats a 4-2 advantage. The Mets scored nine runs in the eighth off Nats relievers Mitch Lively and Eric Fornataro. Clint Robinson hit a ninth-inning grand slam for the Nats in a five-run ninth.

Need to know: Manager Matt Williams expects Anthony Rendon to be in the lineup tomorrow. The Nats third baseman was a late scratch before Wednesday's game with a bruised left knee. New Nats reliever Casey Janssen pitched his second scoreless inning of the spring.

On deck: Friday, vs Houston Astros, 1:05 p.m.
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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - A.J. Cole struggled today for the second straight appearance this spring. The highly rated pitching prospect started today,and gave up one run on four hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. The Nationals fell behind 1-0 quickly when Curtis Granderson, the Mets' second hitter, drilled a full-count fastball over the right field wall.

"I went into it and I wasn't feeling great," said Cole. "You know you're always going to have those days where you just have to work through with what you have and fight through everything. Second inning, I started behind there, tried to get back and tried to do just a little too much, and I know I can't do that, so I have to stay with not trying to do too much."

Cole was visibly displeased with today's performance, and said he's his biggest critic.

"I think it's important to myself," he said. "There's always room for improvement. To me, you're never good enough - there's always something you can work on. Nobody's really ever told me that you're too hard on yourself or anything like that. They'll say hey you did a good job and I'll take that and I'll go fix things on my own."

Cole was 13-3 with a 3.61 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 25 starts between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse. Scouts have raved about a fastball that's consistently in the mid-to high 90s.

"Every day, I'm working on a slider," he said. "Fastball command is usually always there for me. It wasn't today. I know it will my next outing because I'll keep working on that. It's just the little things. I didn't command a pitch right there. I didn't execute a situation and that's what I'm trying to work on in the future."

Cole, 23, is taking advantage of his time around the Nationals talented starting pitchers during spring training.

"It's actually kind of cool because you have such a great staff here and what you see up here for the pitching, they're all great and you're always able to learn from them," said Cole. "They're all great, they've all been somewhere. They've all accomplished stuff and just being able to watch and (see) how they go about the game, it's just great to watch."

The Nats took the led in the fifth, with Ian Stewart scoring on a Tony Gwynn Jr. groundout. Danny Espinosa made it 4-2 an inning later when he homered off lefty Steven Matz.

It's 4-3 Nats in the eighth.