Hernandez pitches 7 innings as New York Mets beat Washington Nationals 7-0

Hernandez holds Nats in check, Mets win 7-0

WASHINGTON — Livan Hernandez allowed four singles in seven innings and the New York Mets scored five first-inning runs in a 7-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

Hernandez (5-1) walked four and struck out four to win for the fifth time in seven starts. The right-hander has won seven consecutive games against the Nationals and improved to 10-5 lifetime against his former team.

The Nationals lost for the 10th time in 12 games and dropped to 2-7 against the Mets this season.

Pedro Feliciano and Bobby Parnell got the Mets through the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez finished the five-hitter, completing New York’s third shutout.

The Mets, limited to four runs in splitting the first two games of the weekend series, took advantage of Craig Stammen’s wildness in the first to build a 5-0 lead.

Leadoff hitter Alex Cora drew a four-pitch walk and scored on Fernando Martinez’s double over the head of center fielder Elijah Dukes. Martinez went to third on Carlos Beltran’s groundout and David Wright walked. Martinez scored on a wild pitch as Wright stole second and Daniel Murphy’s RBI single made it 3-0.

Murphy advanced on Ryan Church’s double and scored on Brian Schneider’s sacrifice fly. Stammen then uncorked another run-scoring wild pitch to cap New York’s big first.

Stammen (0-2) blanked the Mets over the next four innings, but the damage was done. The rookie right-hander gave up six hits, walked two and struck out two.

Wright added a two-out RBI single in the seventh and Beltran doubled in a run in the ninth.