The Washington Nationals held off a late rally by the New York Mets to beat them 10-9 on Tuesday and deliver Tom Glavine’s first defeat since July.

For the Nats, Austin Kearns hit a three-run home run, Tony Batista was 3-for-5 with a solo homer and Brian Schneider drove in three runs in the win.

Nationals tied their victory total from last season with No. 71.

"It's a huge accomplishment for the simple facts that you look at the players that we had last year and the players we don’t have this year," said reliever Jon Rauch.

Mets pitchers look exhausted out there and even Glavine could turn things in their favor as he got hammered for six runs in five innings in a 10-9 loss to the Nationals last night at Shea Stadium. The only thing that worked for them was that the Philadelphia Phillies were also beaten 10-6 by Atlanta, so their fragile lead at the top of the National League East remains unchanged.

"You always want to look at the positive. The last half of the game we played like the kind of team we really are," said Moises Alou, who recorded a three-run double in the ninth inning and singled in the second. His franchise-record hitting streak reached 29 games.

The Nationals needed 16 hits to earn a 10-3 advantage going into the ninth inning. The Mets attempted a dramatic comeback and they were pretty close as Lo Duca singled, Carlos Gomez drew a one-out walk and Jose Reyes hit a three-run shot off Jesus Colome for his second homer of the game.

Luis Castillo's single chased Colome and brought on Chad Cordero. Wright singled and Carlos Beltran's walk loaded the bases for Moises Alou, who laced a three-run double. Alou's fourth hit of the night brought the Mets within 10-9.

The Mets were very close to pull of their biggest ninth-inning rally for a victory. On July 17, 1973 they scored seven runs in the ninth to win over Atlanta, the Elias Sports Bureau said.
New York has allowed 48 runs in the five meetings with the Nationals, who began the day with the fewest runs in the majors.