NEW YORK -- Ryan Zimmerman hit a long homer and Tim Redding pitched two-hit ball for six innings, sending the Washington Nationals to a 5-3 victory against the New York Mets on Wednesday night. Jesus Flores hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the seventh off Aaron Heilman, who was booed on and off the mound by the Shea Stadium crowd. Washington added three more runs in the inning, sticking Claudio Vargas with a tough-luck loss in his Mets debut. Brian Schneider homered and drove in two runs against his former club, but New York (20-18) dropped to a disappointing 3-3 on its seven-game homestand against last-place teams. Redding (5-3) allowed one run and struck out four, improving to 3-0 in three road starts this season. Carlos Beltran's RBI single off Jon Rauch cut it to 5-3 in the eighth, but Rauch retired Endy Chavez on an inning-ending flyout with runners at the corners. Chavez was in the game as a replacement for left fielder Moises Alou, ejected by plate umpire Dana DeMuth for slamming his bat to the ground following a fifth-inning strikeout. Rauch worked a perfect ninth, earning his eighth save.
