Nationals' Gonzalez gets 16th victory

WASHINGTON - Taking advantage of opportunities was the key to the Washington Nationals' success on Sunday.

The New York Mets missed on numerous scoring chances, while the Nationals converted many of theirs.

Danny Espinosa and Bryce Harper homered, and starter Gio Gonzalez earned his 16th victory as the Nationals scored a 5-2 victory over the Mets.

New York (57-64) put runners on base in eight of the nine innings but went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Mets left 10 men on base overall in a frustrating afternoon.

"It's part of a pattern," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We had a lot of guys on. We had plenty of opportunities, but just couldn't get a big hit when we needed it."

The Mets out-hit the Nationals, 11-9. In addition, they got two hits in three of the nine innings, but Washington (75-46) used good pitching at the right times to escape trouble.

This victory increased the Nationals' lead over the Braves to five games in the National League East, as Atlanta lost to Los Angeles earlier in the day.

"That wasn't pretty, but it was a win," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "[Gio] was really up most of the day, and missing. But the bullpen held in there, and it was a good win."

Gonzalez improved to 16-6, although he struggled at times during his 5 2/3 innings. He never got the side out in order and gave up one run on seven hits while needing 110 pitches. The left-hander is tied with Johnny Cueto of Cincinnati for the most wins in the National League.

Gonzalez got help from relievers Craig Stammen and Michael Gonzalez before Tyler Clippard closed it in the ninth for his 27th save.

The start of the game was delayed two hours, 26 minutes by rain, and Johnson said Gonzalez stretched a few times trying to be ready for the start. But Gonzalez wouldn't use that as an excuse, instead preferring to praise the bullpen for helping again.

"The bullpen has been our biggest key -- I've said it since the beginning," Gonzalez said. "They come in and clean up all our mess. They're constantly working hard for us."

But the Washington offense came through in ways New York's didn't.

The two homers helped, and the Nationals went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position. They stranded five, a long way from the Mets' numbers.

A big reason for that was the homers, which helped Washington take some pressure off Gonzalez with four early runs that the Mets weren't able to answer.

The Nationals took a 2-0 lead in the second when Espinosa lined an 0-1 pitch into the New York bullpen in left field. That shot also scored Michael Morse, who led off the inning with a single off starter Jeremy Hefner (2-5).

"I wasn't sure if it was going to carry out," Espinosa said. "I think I've been hitting the ball pretty well lately, so I've been feeling good."

Washington made it 4-0 in the third. Jayson Werth led off with a single and scored when Harper tripled to center. Ryan Zimmerman followed with an RBI single to left that New York's Jason Bay just missed catching.

Harper then led off the fifth with a home run to right for a 5-0 lead. The rookie's been battling a slump lately, and Johnson sat him on Saturday. Afterward, the manager wondered whether Harper was trying to send him a message with his homer, triple and another hard-hit ball that was caught.

"I was trying to hit good pitches," Harper said. "I was trying to be comfortable out there and [make] things happen."

New York scored a run in both the sixth and eighth. In the sixth, Ike Davis doubled and later came in on a Bay groundout.

Kelly Shoppach's RBI single in the eighth made it 5-2, scoring Ronny Cedeno, who doubled off Michael Gonzalez.

Notes: Espinosa's homer was his third in the last five games as the second baseman has been hot in the second half of the season...The Nationals are 14-5 in August. They are the only team in the majors to have a winning record in every month so far this season...Jon Rauch threw two-thirds of an inning of scoreless baseball for the Mets in Saturday's 2-0 win over Washington. Rauch has given up just one run stretching over his last 21 appearances -- over a total of 15 innings...That victory was the 50th time in franchise history in which the Mets won a game despite getting three hits or less. The Mets finished with just three hits in that win, as Davis hit a two-run homer for all of the offense...Pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy was ejected by home plate umpire Jordan Baker in the eighth inning.