Nationals beat Mets 8-2, tie Tigers

By Josh Land

Nationals

March 10, 2012, 11:08am

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Chien-Ming Wang went two innings, gave up two runs and struck out two as the Nationals beat the Mets 8-2 in one half of Saturday's split-squad games. Wang was followed by right-hander Craig Stammen, who was able to shut down the Mets for three innings. The pitching was just one strong part in the Nationals' win. Led by Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche, the offense was able to knock around Mets' starter R.A. Dickey for five runs and eight hits in three innings. Zimmerman drove in two runs and LaRoche also drove in a run in his first game action of the spring. LaRoche played just three innings before giving way to Tyler Moore. Update: Left-hander John Lannan faced the Detroit Tigers in the Nats' split-squad game in Lakeland, Fla. He went two innings and gave up two runs. Yunesky Maya also gave up a run in the Nationals' 5-5 tie with the Tigers. Outfielder Corey Brown provided the power with his first spring home run in the seventh inning off of Detroit closer Jose Valverde. The home run was also Brown's first RBI of the spring. Andres Blanco hit a home run in the eighth to give the Nationals a 5-4 lead, but Rafael Martin gave up a run in the bottom half of the inning to give the game its final margin.