Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

If the Mets plan on playing meaningful baseball in September, they are going to have to dominate the lower level teams over the next two weeks. After going 2-11 against the Dodgers and Giants, the Mets will play the Nationals and Marlins for 14 straight games. They turned to Rich Hill in the first game against the Nationals on Friday night at Citi Field looking to turn their season around.

Hill’s first inning was mostly easy. After striking out Victor Robles to lead off the game, Alcides Escobar singled to right field. He didn’t move off first base though as Juan Soto flew out to Michael Conforto at the wall in right field before Josh Bell grounded out to J.D. Davis at third base.

Despite typically being a fly ball pitcher, Hill got two more ground outs to start the second inning. Both Carter Kieboom and Lane Thomas grounded out to Davis at third to begin the inning. Riley Adams hit a bloop to center field that fell in front of a diving Brandon Nimmo for a two-out double, but he was stranded there when Luis Garcia swung and missed at three straight breaking balls from Hill to end the inning.

Hill ran into trouble quickly in the third inning. Facing the pitcher Paolo Espino, Hill allowed a two-strike single to start the inning before hitting the light-hitting Robles on the next pitch. Escobar followed with another two-strike single to load the bases for Soto. With the infield playing back for a double play, Soto hit a ground ball to Pete Alonso at first, but he looked home before taking just the out at first base. Bell followed with a single to score the runner from third and put runners on the corners with one out. Hill struck out Kieboom and Thomas to escape further trouble. It took Hill 29 pitches to get through the third inning.

After striking out Adams, the fourth looked like it would be an easy inning for Hill when he got a pop up to left field from Garcia. Dominic Smith got under the ball, but it hit off his glove and fell for a two-base error. Hill struck out Espino and Robles to prevent the runner from advancing past second base.

In the fifth, Hill started the inning with his eighth strikeout of the night when he got Escobar swinging at a fastball. Soto and Bell both hit the ball hard, but Soto’s line drive was caught by Nimmo and Bell’s one hopper was snagged by Javier Baez at second base to end the inning and Hill’s night. He had thrown more pitches in a start for the Rays, but the 91 pitches Hill threw on Friday night were his most as a Met.

Hill’s final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K.

Hill had arguably his best outing as a Met on Friday night despite the loss. His fastball-curveball mix had Nationals batters off balance all night, as his eight strikeouts were the most he has had in a game as a Met and the third most he has had in game this season. Regardless of the individual success, Hill wasted no time taking the blame for the loss.

“I expect more out of myself to be able to keep the other team at bay and give us a good chance to win the ballgame,” Hill said. “That third inning, I take the blame for this one. That’s where you’ve got to keep throwing up zeroes. Unfortunately they were able to get a couple runs out.”

Despite facing a Nationals team that was depleted at the trade deadline, Hill still got the same results Mets starting pitchers were getting against the Dodgers and Giants. It was a strong outing for Hill, but the Mets’ bats were not able to make up the two runs he allowed. Unfortunately for Hill, the slumping offense may have played a factor on defense in that third inning. With the infield playing back, willing to trade a run for a double-play ball, Alonso looked home and the ground ball from Soto when he could have potentially gotten two outs instead of one on the play.

“I think if he has a chance to go to second and maybe turn a 3-6-3 or a 3-6-1, it could’ve been a good option,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said.

Although preventing that second run is no sure thing had the Mets turned a double play, facing Bell with two outs and a runner on third could have given Hill an opportunity to attack him differently than he did with runners on second and third and just the one out.

The start for Hill on Friday was a microcosm of the 2021 season for the New York Mets. Despite a strong pitching performance, the lack of offense overshadowed the success of the pitching staff. With the Braves comeback win over the Giants, the Mets are now 8.5 games back of the division lead. Although the Mets’ chances of saving their season are slim, they will need Hill and the rest of the starting rotation to be nearly perfect over the season’s final month if the bats cannot turn it around in a big way.