The New York Mets (12-3) fell to the Washington Nationals (8-9) to the score of 8-6. The Mets’ bullpen imploded in the eight inning, allowing six runs which flipped the game upside down.
The Nationals are now 44-16 at Citi Field since 2012 but the Mets remain five games ahead of the Nationals and hold a stellar 8-1 record versus the NL East this season.
Pitching
Jacob deGrom was the second Mets starter this season to reach the seventh inning and the first to pitch into the eighth.
DeGrom pitched a good game with a final stat line of 7.1 IP 6H 3ER 1BB 12K. He threw 103 pitches with 76 of them for strikes. No Nationals batter got the count to three balls until the eighth inning.
Tonight marks the first time since 1970 since Mets starters have struck out at least 11 batters in back -to- back games.
Bryce Harper hit a broken-bat solo home run in the first inning to give the Nats a 1-0 lead. However, deGrom settled in and retired 10 batters in a row through the fourth inning. He intentionally walked Harper after Trea Turner stole second base in the fifth inning with two outs but got Ryan Zimmerman to ground out to end the inning.
Moises Sierra led off the eighth inning with a single. deGrom struck out Michael A. Taylor for the first out of the inning but was chased from the game with a single by Trea Turner. This is when things started to unravel.
Seth Lugo came in relief of deGrom with two on and one out in the eighth. He walked the only batter he saw on four pitches.
Jerry Blevins came in to face Harper with the bases loaded and one out but lost the battle as Harper hit an up and in fastball plating two runs that were charged to deGrom.
AJ Ramos got Zimmerman to look at strike three for the second out but gave up a single to load bases to Pedro Severino. Ramos then walked pinch-hitter and former Met Matt Reynolds on four pitches to make it a 6-4 game in favor of the Mets.
Jeurys Familia became the fourth reliever used in the inning. Wilmer Difo hit a two run single costing the Mets the lead and deGrom a win. It was his first blown save this year and the third time he was called for a save opportunity in the eight inning.
Familia then hit Sierra with a pitch to load the bases again then walked Taylor to give the Nationals a 7-6 lead. Familia mercifully got Turner to line out to end the disastrous frame.
Hansel Robles pitched the ninth and surrendered a solo homerun to Howie Kendrick to lead off the frame to give the Nats a 8-6 lead. Robles retired the next three batters he faced.
Offense
Todd Frazier went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Frazier hit a RBI double in the home half of the first to tie the game at 1-1. In the third inning he hit another RBI double which gave the Mets the lead 2-1.
Asdrubal Cabrera had a big night at the plate going 4 for 5 with a HR, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Cabrera launched a two run homerun in the seventh to pad the Mets lead to 6-1. Cabrera was thrown out at third base with one out while attempting to advance on a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run at bat.
Brandon Nimmo went 1-for-5 with a triple making it his second triple in as many games.
Juan Lagares went 1-for-3 including two stolen bases in the sixth inning. He later would score on a deGrom safety squeeze.
On Deck
The New York Mets look to dust this one off their shoulders and even the series tomorrow night against the Washington Nationals as Zack Wheeler (1-0) takes on Gio Gonzalez (1-1) at Citi Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. EST.
