On the Mets beat

Staple here, Lennon and others at the yard, Mets-Nats on tap in a few. Mets (20-17) are coming off a 6-3 win last night over the Nats (16-24) thanks to Ryan Church's 4 RBI.

Claudio Vargas will make his Mets debut tonight. The 29-year-old righthander was 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in two starts with New Orleans, with seven scoreless innings in his last outing. We'll see if the Brewers castoff can do better than Nelson Figueroa.

Tim Redding (4-3, 3.83) goes for the Nats.

Getting the live blog rolling in a few.

Top 1: Nice job settling in by Vargas after Felipe Lopez rocks a double off the top of the right-field wall. High fastball to whiff Ryan Zimmerman was a highlight. Good stat from SNY: Vargas has a 6.77 first-inning ERA, third-worst among starters with at least 500 IP. He's out, though. 0-0, middle of the 1st.

Bottom 1: That was brief. What was that, 8 pitches? Tim Redding's a good starter, but a weak open from the Mets. 0-0, end of 1.

Top 2: Another good one for Vargas, though to be fair, I'm not sure this Nationals lineup qualifies as major league. Wily Mo Pena has now gone 127 ABs without a home run. Which sort of defeats the purpose of Wily Mo Pena. 0-0, middle of 2.

Bottom 2: Boy, are the Mets looking foolish so far. Moises Alou has a couple lousy cuts, and Carlos Delgado gets completely fooled by Redding's sweeping curve. And in HD, that Apple needs some touching up before it goes over to the new park. 0-0, end of 2.

Top 3: Vargas escapes a mess of his own making, with two walks. Nifty play by Delgado on Redding's attempted sacrifice bunt, and it's still scoreless. And Keith Hernandez, waxing poetic on the subject of women's tights and ex-catchers who went commando, has now officially sickened me. 0-0, middle of 3.

Bottom 3: Nine up, nine down for Redding. Perhaps the second time through the order will be better. Can't be worse. 0-0, end of 3.

Top 4: Vargas is starting to aim a little bit, but luckily, the Nats are really, really, really bad, especially with runners on. Aaron Boone's infield single is followed by Austin Kearns' 1-pitch fly-out, and Elijah Dukes' 6-4-3. Vargas could last 6 at this rate, but his mates have to do something. 0-0, middle of 4.

Bottom 4: That was unfortunate for Beltran and Reyes. Ripped liner by Beltran, right at Zimmerman, who doubles up Reyes to end the threat. David Wright has the first and, so far, only Mets hit, as Redding finally looks human. 0-0, end of 4.

Top 5: Another strong one for Vargas. Catches Pena and Jesus Flores looking. I'd say this guy has already earned his Saturday start in the ATL. 0-0, middle of 5.

Bottom 5: First strike by the Mets, specifically catcher Brian Schneider, who ripped a fastball off the flag display on the RF facade. Redding lost his focus a little, but the one run was all. These ex-Nats are getting their revenge. And Lastings Milledge is sitting tonight. 1-0, end of 5.

Top 6: Apparently, Zimmerman can only focus with no one on base. He crushed a high Vargas fastball to tie the game. Again from SNY: Vargas allows a HR every 22 ABs in his career, worst among ALL pitchers with more than 500 IP. Yikes. Oh, forgot about Alou getting tossed last inning. He was mad. Oh well. 1-1, middle of 6.

Bottom 6: Reyes hits one a long way, but it dies in center. Wright hits one hard, but Zimmerman stays with it for the out. Mets are having better ABs off Redding, but still little success. Vargas heads out for the 7th, and it'll almost certainly be his last. 1-1, end of 6.

Top 7: Well, that was long and painful. Vargas issues a one-out walk and gets lifted to solid cheers. In comes Aaron Heilman, and the boos come quickly. Two-out hits score four Nats runs before Randolph lifts Heilman to a loud chorus of boos. Vargas will take the loss if this stands, but it's all on Heilman. 5-1 Nats, middle of 7.

Bottom 7: Saul Rivera deflects a couple balls for hits, but the Nats reliever does what Heilman couldn't: Get relief outs. Schneider drives in another run with a groundout, but that's all despite first and third with one out. 5-2, end of 7.

Top 8: Perfect inning for Joe Smith... Perhaps Randolph could have gone to Smith first? Ah, it's so easy from the live-blog couch. 5-2, middle of 8.

Bottom 8: Another promising start results in one run and a couple left on base. Luis Ayala gets the biggest out, sawing off Wright, and Rauch allows a run-scoring hit by Beltran before retiring Endy Chavez... Gee, Alou would have been good in that spot. 5-3 Nats, end of 8.

Top 9: Good job by Pedro Feliciano to hold the deficit at 2, though to be fair, Jon Rauch didn't put up much of a struggle. We'll see what Delgado, Schneider and Easley, followed by the pitcher's spot, can do against Rauch. 5-3, middle of 9.

Bottom 9: Quick work by Rauch for the 4-out save. Nats have won two of the first three, and the Mets are continuing to tread water. Back for more tomorrow afternoon, on getaway day.