MLB

Mets’ Parnell plans to pitch inside more

WASHINGTON — Bobby Parnell seemed almost pleased he drilled Ian Desmond in yesterday’s ninth inning.

Summoned to protect a five-run lead for the Mets, Parnell was more concerned with location than results. At the top of that list was pitching inside — something manager Terry Collins noticed he wasn’t doing in recent appearances.

“I ran the ball in on Desmond and I hit him,” Parnell said after the Mets beat the Nationals, 9-5. “We were working in there. We threw some good pitches in there.”

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Though Parnell allowed a run on two hits and the hit batter, he was pleased with the performance, after blowing saves against the Braves and Nationals in consecutive appearances.

“A five-run lead sometimes, hopefully not, but that might be the only chance I get to work on some stuff,” Parnell said. “I had to take it and just backed off my stuff and worked on hitting some spots and worked on throwing inside.”

The right-handed fireballer said the Nationals were undoubtedly aware of the fact he hadn’t been pitching inside lately.

“We face these guys a bunch,” Parnell said. “They know I live out [on the corner] a little bit. I throw them out there and they are comfortable going out there and then they get some hits. So that’s an intricate part of my game, going inside on and breaking them off and that will open them up for outside for later.”

* With Miguel Batista scheduled to move into the rotation tomorrow to face the Dodgers, the Mets will likely make a roster move to add another reliever. A team official didn’t rule out the possibility of Jenrry Mejia, but said the righty has been “very inconsistent” for Triple-A Buffalo.

* The Mets ended their errorless streak at 11 games when R.A. Dickey had a throwing error in the fifth inning on Steve Lombardozzi’s grounder. Then, in the eighth, David Wright had a throwing error. The errorless streak was the Mets’ longest since July 22-Aug. 2 of 2008, when the Mets also went 11 games without an error.

* Though Mike Baxter has been playing as the designated hitter in a minor league rehab assignment at Single-A St. Lucie, the outfielder is not close to rejoining the Mets because he isn’t throwing or playing defense, according to Collins. Baxter has been on the disabled list since June 2 with a displaced collarbone.