D.C. COMICS - LOWLY NATS POUND PELFREY

WASHINGTON - Mike Pelfrey provided a primer for young Dillon Gee yesterday on how not to perform tonight when he makes his major-league debut.
Don't walk three batters in the same inning. football jerseys
Don't miss high in the strike zone. Don't head to the showers in the fourth. Don't be like Mike.
Pelfrey's pathetic performance against a putrid opponent set the bar low. With Pelfrey as the ring-leader, the Mets lost 13-3 to the Nationals, marking their sixth loss in eight games on this road trip.
Gee, a 24-year-old right-hander, will become the second Mets pitcher in four games to make his major-league starting debut when he gets the ball tonight at Nationals Park. He can only hope he fares better than Jenrry Mejia, who surrendered four runs over five innings in losing to the Cubs on Saturday.
It's an opportunity Gee thought he might receive last season, except that a torn labrum derailed any dreams he had of pitching in the big leagues in 2009. He recovered to go 13-8 with a 4.96 ERA at Triple-A Buffalo, where he set a modern franchise record with 165 strikeouts in 161 1/3 innings.
"My main goal was just to go out this year and prove that I'm healthy again and I can still pitch," Gee said. "I think I proved that in close to 170 innings right now."
Manager Jerry Manuel said Gee impressed him during spring training of 2009.
"He's a pitcher," Manuel said. "He's a command guy, and what I saw was a good changeup. Steelers jersey
I liked that. He was able to throw changeups at any point in the count. He had a setback with the injury, but he's a guy that has pitch-ability."
Pelfrey (13-9) is an "enigma," according to the manager.
The Mets gave the right-hander a 3-0 lead in the third, only to watch him surrender a solo homer to Danny Espinosa in the bottom of the inning and five more runs in the fourth. The rookie Espinosa hit a grand slam against Ryota Igarashi in the sixth to make it a runaway.
The Mets (67-71) thought Pelfrey had turned a corner last month, when he gave the team four straight strong performances. He has since regressed, with consecutive duds.
"We're talking about [Pelfrey's] fourth year, getting to that point where you say, 'This is who you are and this is what we're going to get,' " Manuel said. "And we're still fighting some different things. That part probably is the most frustrating. You know the tools are in the shed in which to work with, you've just got to get them in the right places."
METS: In a battle of pitchers making their major league debuts, the Mets send the 24-year-old Gee to the mound. In 28 starts for Triple-A Buffalo this season, Gee was 13-8 with a 4.96 ERA. His mid90s fastball got him 165 strikeouts, leading the International League and setting a Buffalo franchise record.
NATIONALS: Maya is a 29-year-old Cuban defector who is in his first season playing American pro ball. His most recent stop was in Triple-A Syracuse, where in his two starts he pitched 10 1/3 innings, allowing one run on eight hits, with five walks and nine strikeouts.
WHO'S HOT
Nationals September call-up shortstop Danny Espinosa went 4-for-5 yesterday with six RBIs. He's 9-for-16 (.563) with 10 RBIs in four games.
WHO'S NOT
Since making his major league debut on Sept. 1, Lucas Duda is 1-for-20 Vikings jersey
(.050), including going 0-for-3 yesterday. He also has nine strikeouts.
STAT SO?
David Wright went 0-for-1 with an RBI yesterday, but has a career average of .258 in Nationals Park, his second worst average in any park (behind Citizens Bank in Philly, .257) where he has played more than seven games.