Heilman, Bullpen Fail Mets As Nationals Rally From Behind
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WASHINGTON — Felipe Lopez is in the lineup again — and hitting again.
Lopez’s grand slam and two-run single gave him a career-high-tying six RBIs and led Washington past the Mets 10-5 last night, the Nationals’ fourth victory in their past 20 games.
The Nationals fell behind 3-0 while being held in check through four innings by Mets starter Oliver Perez. But Washington’s weak offense — 3.5 runs per game and a major league-low .227 batting average coming in — broke out for three runs in the fifth, four in the sixth and three in the seventh.
And Lopez led the way, twice coming through with the bases loaded. He put the Nationals on the scoreboard with his single off Perez (2-1) in the fifth, making it 3-2, then broke a tie in the sixth with his first homer of the season, off reliever Aaron Heilman.
Washington finished with 13 hits and made a winner of Mike O’Connor (1-0), who made his first appearance in the majors since 2006 after being called up from Triple-A Columbus before the game.
O’Connor pitched one inning of one-hit ball in relief of Shawn Hill, who departed after giving up three runs through five innings.
But that lead evaporated in the fifth, when Washington filled the bases with no outs on two walks and a single, then scored on Lopez’s hit and Ryan Zimmerman’s RBI groundout.
In the sixth, Perez put two men on and then, with two outs, Heilman entered. The reliever walked pinch-hitter Lastings Milledge — he was a late scratch for Washington, though the team didn’t say why — and that brought up Lopez.
