The New York Mets (20-22) lost to the Washington Nationals (18-25) by a 7-6 score on Wednesday afternoon at Nationals Park despite a ninth inning rally. Dan Jennings (1-2 11.25 ERA) was credited with the win and Zack Wheeler (3-3 4.85 ERA) was given the loss.

Pitching

Zack Wheeler (3-3, 4.85 ERA), who was looking to continue his string of dominating starts, ran into trouble from the start allowing three singles in a row to start the game and later in the first, back-to-back RBI doubles which sunk the Mets to a 4-0 deficit to start the game.

He rebounded in the second retiring the top of Washington’s order 1-2-3 and kept them scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when Howie Kendrick doubled which caused a collision between Robinson Cano and Michael Conforto. Conforto exited the game with a concussion.The next batter, Gerardo Parra, hit a two-run homer.  

Zack Wheeler was taken out after the sixth inning finishing with an ugly line: 6.0 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K and a HR allowed.

Daniel Zamora replaced him in the seventh and allowed one earned run because of a walk to Parra. Robert Gsellman took him over and gave up a RBI  single to Kurt Suzuki, which have the Nats a comfortable 7-4 lead. 

Tyler Bashlor replaced him in the eighth and retired the side in order including a strikeout of Juan Soto.

Offense

The Mets offense was quiet against Anibal Sanchez (0-6, 5.10 ERA), who began his day by retiring the first four hitters before allowing a single to J.D. Davis and a walk to Brandon Nimmo in the second inning and then departed due to an apparent injury. Erick Fedde came on to replace him and ended any threat by getting Amed Rosario to ground into a force out and striking out Tomas Nido.

The Mets made a great comeback in the third inning with Zack Wheeler and Jeff McNeil hitting back-to-back singles, Dominic Smith grounded into a force out before Robinson Cano hit a RBI ground-rule double cutting the lead to 4-1. That was followed by a Michael Conforto three-run missile to right field to tie the game at four a piece. McNeil would leave the game with abdominal tightness. 

The Mets made a big rally in the ninth against Washington closer Sean Doolittle starting with a Nimmo walk. Then a pinch-hit double by Todd Frazier, a Wilson Ramos pinch-hit RBI single, an RBI single from Juan Lagares made it 7-6. Smith struck out before Robinso Cano singled to load the bases for Keon Broxton. The struggling outfielder struck out to end the game. 

The Mets had a total of 11 hits including Cano going 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI, and before exiting, Conforto went 1-for-2 with a big three-run homer.

On Deck

Jacob deGrom (3-4 3.26 ERA) will lead off the Mets series against the Marlins, matching up with Trevor Richards (0-5 4.46 ERA) on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. EDT, with game coverage on SNY, WCBS 880 and ESPN 1050.