WASHINGTON 9 New York 8 (CBS Sportsline Boxscore)

Nats Again Come Back To Stymie The Mets – The Post
I don’t know what we will do without Barry Svrluga next season:

Avert your eyes, fans of the New York Mets, because what is happening on the eastern edge of Capitol Hill isn’t fit for anyone who wanted the team from Flushing to saunter into the postseason, as they appeared ready to do all of a week ago. But that was before they were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies — and long before they arrived at their new house of horrors, RFK Stadium.

Joel Hanrahan dug a big whole for the home team with a 4 run first inning and Winston Abreu didn’t help matters when he gave up 2 runs too. However, the Nats kept scoring runs off of John Maine before busting out and scoring five in the fifth. Maine was charged with eight runs on the day and earned the loss. Watching the Mets stumble is fun (The Post).

As is customary, Chad Cordero made the ninth inning more difficult than it needed to be, allowing the consecutive two-out singles. He held on, giving up on one run.

At end, major relief for Nats – The Wash. Times

Dmitri Young is still hurting from getting hit in the head with a ground ball.

SS Cristian Guzman may play before the season ends. He has returned to batting practice.

The Nats wore special DCFD hats last night. Mark Zuckerman notes that

It was a nice way to honor the District’s bravest, but wouldn’t it have made more sense to hold this event earlier in the week, as close to Sept. 11 as possible? Also, wouldn’t it have been nice if — like the Yankees and Mets have done — the Nationals wore the special hats during the game instead of only during batting practice? (The Wash. Times)

. True — wearing Arlington County Fire Department hats might have been nice too, since they were the first responders at the Pentagon on that day.