The New York Mets (47-41) were defeated by the Washington Nationals (54-36) by a score of 3-2 at Citi Field Sunday afternoon. The loss will leave the Mets 6 games behind the Nationals for the division lead heading into the break.
Pitching:
Steven Matz was on the mound for the Mets today and he had a nice game. After a little trouble in the early innings, Matz settled in and pitched seven innings allowing three runs, walking four, and striking out five.
The Nationals got things started right away in the first inning today. After Jayson Werth walked with one out, who else but Daniel Murphy crushed his 17th home run of the year over the right field wall to give the Nats the early 2-0 lead.
In the top of the third inning, Matz found himself in a little bit of trouble again. Matz once again walked Jayson Werth to put a runner on first. After a Daniel Murphy groundout moved Werth to second, Werth decided he would also steal third base after getting a great jump. Bryce Harper followed with a walk and Wilson Ramos then made Matz pay by lacing a single on a line drive to center field to give the Nats the 3-1 lead.
Jerry Blevins and Addison Reed combined to pitch a scoreless eighth inning. Reed would come back on in the ninth and pitch another scoreless inning. Four up and four down for Reed today who really has been nothing short of fantastic this year.
Offense:
Jose! Jose! Jose! Jose!!
Jose Reyes kicked the Mets day off with a leadoff home run in the first inning to put the Mets on the board. At the time, it cut the Nats lead in half 2-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Reyes did it again, launching his 3rd home run as a Met over the left field wall to cut the Nats lead to 3-2.
Unfortunately, that would be it for the Mets offense today after they appeared to have Gio Gonzalez on the ropes for most of the game. The Mets lineup clearly has missed Yoenis Cespedes.
Notes:
Dilson Herrera, Dominic Smith, and Amed Rosario will represent the Mets in the Futures Game tonight.
Yoenis Cespedes (strained quad) and Noah Syndergaard (arm fatigue) officially withdrew from the All-Star game. Jeurys Familia and Bartolo Colon will be the Mets only representatives.
Terry Collins said today that there is still no timetable for Lucas Duda to resume baseball activities.
The Mets have officially signed fourth round pick Michael Paez.
On Deck:
The Mets are heading into the All-Star break. The Mets will open a three game set next Friday with the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen’s Bank Park. The game has a start time of 7:05 PM. Official starters for the game have not yet been announced.
