Reyes, Delgado, Beltran homer for Mets in 9-7 win WASHINGTON (wesm) - (AP) Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado also went deep, and the New York Mets built a big lead then barely held on to beat the Washington Nationals 9-7 Wednesday night.

Brandon Knight (1-0), a 32-year-old journeyman, earned his first major league victory with five solid innings. Luis Ayala, New York's seventh reliever, got the final out for his eighth save. The Mets had lost four of their previous five games to fall out of first place in the NL East. By winning, they remained a half-game behind the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies, who beat Atlanta 6-1 Wednesday, and held their wild-card edge.

Reyes led off the game by homering off Shairon Martis (0-3), and Delgado also hit a solo shot in the first. Beltran hit a two-run drive in the third, and a solo homer in the eighth. © Copyright 2009, wesm