The Washington Nationals returned to their winning ways and fourth place last night in a 4-3 victory over the New York Mets. They avoided being swept in large part to two players

P ¡LIVAN! pitched 8 innings, giving up 3 runs (only 2 earned) the day after stories about ties to Puerto Rican money laundering operation blew up. He raises his record to 3-2. He also bunted in a run, shielding the ball from the Mets catcher (VIDEO from nationals.com). Mets manager Terry Collins should have protested it, but didn’t. He also singled. Oh and MLB, when somebody throws a 53 MPH pitch, please put the video up.

SS Ian Desmond returned from paternity leave in a big way, hitting a triple and a home run. No errors in the field either. He raised his batting average to .220. Hopefully, now that his son has been born, he will be able to improve upon his dreadful first month of the season.

Get well wishes to nationals.com beat writer Bill Ladson, hospitalized in Queens according to Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler. In his place, the Natmosphere’s own Kristen Hudak.

Other gamers:

Nationals vs. Mets: Ian Desmond leads Washington in his first game since birth of his child – The Post
New dad Desmond helps deliver Nationals win – The Wash. Times