The New York Mets kept pace with the front-running Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East by crushing the Washington Nationals 7-2 yesterday.

Former National Brian Schneider belted two home runs and southpaw Johan Santana scattered eight hits and gave up one run over seven innings for his 14th win of the season.

Philadelphia defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-3 to remain a half-game in front of the Mets, who salvaged a series split with Washington by winning for a second straight night.

"We needed to do some things offensively on back-to-back days and I think that was important for us," Mets manager Jerry Manuel told reporters.

"Johan pitched extremely well. Any time he got into trouble he was able to work his way out of it. He battled really good out there."

The victory created a little breathing room between the Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers in the race for a wildcard berth into the post-season.

Milwaukee continued their September slide by losing to the Chicago Cubs 7-6 in 12 innings to fall 1.5 games in back of the Mets.

"This stretch right now is going to be very important for us," Santana said. "Every game counts. We cannot afford to make too many mistakes. Nobody said this was going to be easy.

"Even though we don't have many games left, we still have a long way to go."

DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST

Schneider, a defensive specialist, hit solo homers in the second and fourth innings against his old team mates on an unseasonably cool evening in Washington. The veteran catcher launched both of his shots into the Nationals' bullpen in right field.

"I never go for the fence," said Schneider, who entered the game with just seven homers on the season. "I was just looking to be aggressive and I got some pitches to hit."

The Mets, who held a 3.5-game lead over the Phillies on Sept. 4, appear to have recovered from a two-week slump where they tumbled out of first.

"We can be a dangerous club," said Manuel. "For a long period of time we've played some pretty good baseball. We have the ability to do that. We have some very dangerous hitters."

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily September 19, 2008)