Bats, Costly Error Results In 7-1, Series Loss To Washington

The New York Mets (85-50) ended their three-game set against the bottom-dwelling Washington Nationals (47-87) at Citi Field Sunday afternoon. The Mets faltered for the second day in a row against the lowly Nationals, as they fell 7-1. A combination of quiet bats and a costly error by Jeff McNeil resulted in the second-straight defeat and a brutal series loss. With the Braves looking likely to win again, the New York lead looks poised to shrink to one game.

In Carlos Carrasco‘s first start in a few weeks, he found himself behind the eight ball immediately. A lead-off double and proceeding base hit had the Nationals on the board even before an out was registered in the game. Fortunately, for the Mets, Carrasco quickly induced a pop up and ground-ball double play to get out of the inning. Only seven pitches were thrown in the inning, yet the Mets trailed early.

A Daniel Vogelbach ground-ball single, that split the shift, set up first and third with no outs. Pete Alonso, who reached via walk, scored when Jeff McNeil hit a fly ball to center field. The Mets tied up the game at one in the second inning.

The Nationals answered back in a big way during the third inning. After a single, McNeil made an extremely costly error during a sequence that should have been a double play. However, the inning continued and Carrasco allowed a two-out hit with the bases loaded to plate two. He then allowed another bases-loaded hit that scored two more. New York trailed 5-1 and Carrasco’s day was over.

Thanks to the error, Carrasco was only credited with allowing one earned run. He had two strikeouts and walked two in his 2 2/3 innings of work in his return. Certainly not an ideal outing for the veteran.

In the fifth inning, the Nationals extended their lead. Cesar Hernandez hit a two-run home run (his first of the season) to extend their lead to 7-1. The home run came off Trevor Williams who previously had a 25 1/3 inning scoreless streak. Williams ended up eating 4 1/3 innings for New York, though he allowed five hits and two runs in doing so.

The Mets were unable to push across any additional offense in the contest. They were held to only six hits which has been the theme for the scuffling offense the past couple weeks. Tommy Hunter was able to finish the game off for the Mets via two scoreless innings.

The conclusion of today’s game marked the end of a disappointing series after a huge one against on the league’s best. The lackluster series now has New York likely headed to only one game clear of Atlanta. Luckily, the Mets have the easiest remaining schedule remaining. Though, as evident in this afternoon’s contest, that does not matter if New York does not take care of business.

On Deck

The Mets continue their stretch against sub-.500 opponents with a trip to Pittsburgh. The three-game series is slated to begin on Monday at 12:35 P.M. ET. The probable pitching matchup is Taijuan Walker (3.45 ERA) versus Mitch Keller (4.43 ERA).