WASHINGTON — The first-place Mets look to polish off a road sweep of the lowly Nationals here tonight when Oliver Perez takes on Collin Balester. Jerry Manuel is expecting another solid outing from Perez, who has won two of his past three starts and hasnât pitched fewer than six innings since lasting just five innings in a June 24 loss to the Mariners.
The Nationals have been a problem for Perez, who lost April 24 here in Washington in his only appearance against them this season. Balester, on the other hand, is facing the Mets for the first time in his young career.
Here is the lineup for the 64-56 Mets, who are now tied with the Phillies atop the NL East:
Jose Reyes SS
Argenis Reyes 2B
David Wright 3B
Carlos Delgado 1B
Carlos Beltran CF
Daniel Murphy LF
Fernando Tatis RF
Brian Schneider C
Oliver Perez LHP (8-7, 3.90)
The last-place Nationals, who are 44-77 with a six-game losing streak, will look like this:
Emilio Bonifacio 2B
Ronnie Belliard SS
Ryan Zimmerman 3B
Lastings Milledge CF
Austin Kearns RF
Aaron Boone 1B
Wil Nieves C
Willie Harris LF
Collin Balester RHP (2-4, 4.66)
