The New York Mets (6-3) were defeated by the Washington Nationals (4-4) by a score of 12-9 Sunday afternoon at Citi Field (Box Score). Zack Wheeler and Tim Peterson combined for 12 walks on the day, as the Nats needed only eight hits to score 12 runs. Down 12-1 in the seventh inning, the Mets ended up scoring eight unanswered runs in the seventh and ninth innings, showing some great fight despite falling just short.
Pitching
Zack Wheeler started for the Mets, looking to get back into the groove he showed in the second half of 2018. He was not able to do that as, after the second inning, the Mets were losing 5-0. Wheeler had thrown just 20 of his 45 pitches for strikes, having allowed five runs on four hits and three walks. The most important pitch in baseball is strike one, but Wheeler was not able to get ahead of Nationals hitters and paid the price.
Wheeler came back strong in the third inning, striking out Juan Soto then getting Ryan Zimmerman and Kurt Suzuki to ground out. He had a strong fourth inning as well before struggling again in the fifth, as after he got a fly out, he walked two batters with full counts. After a mound visit, he got Juan Soto to fly out, but he unraveled, walking Zimmerman to load the bases and Suzuki to push in a run, which would be the end of his day.
Tim Peterson came in for Wheeler via the double switch, with Brandon Nimmo replacing Wheeler in the nine-hole and Peterson replacing J.D. Davis in the six-hole while McNeil went to third. Peterson uncorked a wild pitch with the bases still loaded, scoring one. After walking Difo intentionally, he struck out Max Scherzer to end the inning, closing the book on Wheeler: 4.2 IP, 7 ER, 7 BB, 4 H, 2 Ks, L.
Peterson came back out for the sixth inning, walking Victor Robles before recording two outs. With Robles at third and two outs, he walked Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto to load the bases. He walked Ryan Zimmerman to force in a run, the 12th walk of the day for Mets pitchers. Kurt Suzuki then hit a single to left field, moving everyone up a base and making the score 9-1. Wilmer Difo then popped up in foul territory, ending the inning. Peterson faced ten batters and walked five of them.
Luis Avilan came in to pitch the seventh inning and allowed three runs in the inning, all coming on a three-run home run by Anthony Rendon with a full count and two outs. He did hit a batter, but he was the first Mets pitcher of the day who didn’t walk anyone (unless you count HBPs). 12-1 Nationals.
After the Mets put up a five-spot in the bottom of the seventh, Robert Gsellman allowed a leadoff single to Ryan Zimmerman. He then got Kurt Suzuki to hit a weak grounder back to him, but what was supposed to be a routine 1-4-3 double play become complicated when he bobbled it. He made a strong throw to second base and when that seemed to be the only out they’d get, Luis Guillorme turned the double play with a lightning fast turn. Gsellman then struck out Difo to end the inning.
Seth Lugo was tasked with the ninth inning, desperately needing a bounce-back outing. He struck out Matt Adams, Victor Robles, and Adam Eaton in order to send the game to the bottom of the ninth with the Mets down 12-6.
Offense
After a quiet first inning, Michael Conforto (who has a career 1.149 OPS against Scherzer in 26 at-bats) led off the second with a bloop hit to right field. Adam Eaton slid for the ball but it got by him, allowing Conforto to hustle into second. An errant throw by Eaton, however, allowed Conforto to head to third safely — going into the book as a double and an error on Eaton.
After falling behind 0-2, Wilson Ramos lined a base hit to left field, scoring Conforto and shortening the score to 5-1. J.D. Davis, who hit two home runs Saturday, then tallied a two-strike hit of his own to right field, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Amed Rosario then struck out before Keon Broxton, who had quickly fallen behind 0-2 looking at two fastballs, struck out on a high fastball.
It got past the catcher, though, as the runner on first (Davis) thought it was a foul ball. He got caught between first and second in the confusion to end the inning. Conforto had hustled to third and, to be safe, stood on the base.
Instead of standing on second base to be safe, Davis just stopped running halfway to second which allowed Wilmer Difo to tag him for the out. Let that be a lesson to you, kids. If you are unsure about what happened, make sure you are on a base. Instead of having the bases loaded with two outs and Wheeler coming up, the inning ended with the Nationals still up 5-1.
Now down 9-1, Pete Alonso tried to get the Mets bats going in the sixth inning, crushing a one-out double which left the bat at 112 mph. After Robinson Cano flew out to deep right-center field which advanced Alonso, Michael Conforto was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and third with two outs. Wilson Ramos hit a sharp line drive to right field, but unfortunately, it was right at Adam Eaton who made the catch to end the inning.
The Metsies showed some life in the seventh against Scherzer. Luis Guillorme and Amed Rosario knocked back-to-back singles to right field to lead off the inning, followed by a Keon Broxton strikeout. Brandon Nimmo came up badly needing a hit and got just that, socking an RBI double to right field and knocking Scherzer from the game.
Mad Max was relieved by lefty Matt Grace who allowed an RBI single to Jeff McNeil and a three-run shot to left-center field off the bat of Pete Alonso, making it 12-6 Nationals. That closed the book on Scherzer who went 6.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, walking none and striking out seven.
Travis d’Arnaud, in his first at-bat in a year, grounded out to third base before Michael Conforto struck out on a questionable called third strike to end the inning.
Trevor Rosenthal, who had yet to retire a batter this season, started the 8th inning for the Nats up 12-6. He proceeded to hit Dominic Smith with a pitch before uncorking two wild pitches, sending Smith to second and then third base. Those wild pitches accounted for two of the four balls he threw to Luis Guillorme to put runners at the corners and nobody out.
Rosenthal was lifted in favor of Wander Suero who, after falling behind Amed Rosario 3-0, struck him out swinging. He struck out Keon Broxton as well before Brandon Nimmo came up looking to add to his RBI double from an inning earlier. After falling behind 0-2, Nimmo hit a deep line drive to right center field which was caught to end the inning.
Down 12-6 in the bottom of the ninth, the Mets needed a big rally against the low-quality Nationals bullpen to get back into the game. Joe Ross was the reliever of choice to start the inning against Jeff McNeil, who in his first ever game hitting lead-off, had already reached base three times. After falling behind 0-2, McNeil worked the count full before being hit by the pitch for the second time in the game.
Pete Alonso, who already had a double and a three-run home run in the game, walked on five pitches to bring Travis d’Arnaud to the plate for his second at-bat of the game. On the eighth pitch Ross threw to d’Arnaud, Travis socked a fly ball to right center field which Victor Robles caught with one step and slammed into the wall on the next. Both runners advanced for Michael Conforto who lined a three-run home run over the right field fence, bringing the Mets within three runs.
In a game that the Nationals led 12-1 in the seventh inning, the Nationals brought in their closer Sean Doolittle in a non-save situation to close the door on the Mets. Juan Lagares, the last man on the Mets bench, pinch hit for Seth Lugo and struck out for the second out of the inning. Down to their final out, Luis Guillorme fell behind 1-2 before flying out to left field to end the game.
On Deck
The Mets have an off day before welcoming the Minnesota Twins to Citi Field Tuesday at 7:10 PM. The Mets will skip Jason Vargas start in favor of Jacob deGrom (2-0, 0.00 ERA) who will face off against the yet-to-be-named Twins’ starter.
