The New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 6-5, in a barn-burner of an affair on Saturday afternoon in Flushing.
Over five innings pitched, Steven Matz allowed no runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and four walks, lowering his earned-run average to an impressive 0.87 over his first two starts.
The Mets hit five home runs (J.D. Davis times two, Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, and Robinson Cano) and came back from a 5-3 deficit in the eighth to take the second game of a three-game set at Citi Field.
Davis went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, Conforto, Alonso, and Cano all went 2-for-4, and Keon Broxton notched the game-winning RBI with his two-out single in the eighth.
Brandon Nimmo‘s slump continued (0-for-3, three strikeouts; 17 on the season), and was double-switched out of the game after he took his at-bat in the fifth.
Pitching
Matz was blatantly squeezed in his first at-bat of the day, walking Adam Eaton on five very close pitches. He struck out Brian Dozier, benefitted from Ramos’ missile to catch Eaton stealing, walked Anthony Rendon, then struck out Juan Soto to end the inning.
Ryan Zimmerman led off the second with a base hit up the middle and Matz walked Yan Gomes to place himself in an early jam. He then struck out Wilmer Difo, retired Patrick Corbin on a sacrifice bunt, and worked the outside paint to punch out Victor Robles to put the fire out.
Matz worked a quick third — much needed, as he began the frame with over 50 pitches — notching his fifth (Eaton) and sixth (Rendon) strikeouts of the afternoon.
Matz struck out two more Nats in the fourth, working around a one-out Zimmerman walk by retiring Difo on a long flyball to Nimmo in left field. The left-hander then maneuvered around a two-out single via Eaton in the fifth to end his afternoon after five scoreless frames and 103 pitches (65 strikes).
Robert Gsellman allowed a leadoff double to Rendon to start the sixth, who advanced to third on Soto’s groundball then came home to score the tying run on Zimmerman’s groundout. Gsellman’s ERA is now at 6.75 on the season (four appearances; four innings).
Justin Wilson took the ball in the seventh. After retiring the first two Nats, he walked Robles and allowed a gorgeous bunt for a hit to Dozier, bringing Jeurys Familia into the game.
Wilson Ramos lost a Familia splitter in the dirt and then couldn’t find the ball, allowing Robles to score from second and moving Dozier to third, but the big righty struck out Matt Adams to keep the Nats at arm’s length.
Familia came back out for the eighth and immediately gave up the lead on Rendon’s third homer of the year to tie the game at three. Soto singled in the next at-bat then came home on Wilmer Difo’s towering two-run homer later in the frame to give the Nats a 5-3 lead.
Edwin Diaz took the ball in the ninth, striking out Eaton and inducing a pop out from Andrew Stevenson before getting Rendon to ground out, securing his fourth save of the year.
Offense
Robinson Cano smacked a two-out, opposite-field base hit in the first inning. J.D. Davis followed with a walk, but Wilson Ramos grounded out to leave them on base.
Corbin struck out five consecutive Mets hitters over the second and into the third before Pete Alonso smoked a ball (112.2 mph off the bat) into left field for a two-out double, his fifth two-base hit of the young season.
J.D. Davis crushed his first homer of the season to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. His 114.7 mph exit velocity was the third-fastest Mets home run tracked by Statcast and hardest-hit tater in the majors so far this year (h/t Anthony DiComo, MLB.com).
Juan Lagares notched his third hit and first stolen base of the season after pinch-hitting for Matz in the bottom of the fifth but was left stranded.
Davis hit his second homer of the game with one out in the sixth to put the Mets back out in front, 2-1. This one was a no-doubter into the second deck in left field. Two batters later, Michael Conforto drilled a Corbin pitch into the Coca Cola seats in right to extend the lead to 3-1.
Pete Alonso drilled a 108.7 mph homer into dead-center to lead off the eighth and Robinson Cano took one onto the Shea Bridge at a screaming 109.5 mph in the next at-bat to tie the game at five.
Conforto added a two-out double and Jeff McNeil was hit by a Tony Sipp pitch, then Keon Broxton shot a single into right field to put the Mets ahead 6-5.
On Deck
Zack Wheeler (0-0, 7.20 ERA) will square off against Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer (0-2, 2.13 ERA) at 1:10 p.m. on Sunday at Citi Field. The game will be televised on SNY and broadcast on WCBS 880.
