The Mets (77-61) stunned the Nationals (71-67) by a score of 8-7 Tuesday night in D.C.
Pitching:
Matt Harvey got slammed for 7 earned runs in 5.1 innings tonight amidst the infamous pitch count controversy, or “inning-gate” as I hope nobody will ever call it. He allowed 8 hits and walked 2 while striking out 6. He left the game losing 7-1 and was in line for the loss until the Mets rallied in the top of the 7th to bail him out for the no decision. He was not helped in the 6th inning when, with the bases loaded, Michael Taylor singled up the middle. Cespedes charged in from center field with the intention of throwing someone out at the plate, but the ball got by him for a little league inside-the-park grand slam. Despite this, it was still a rough night for the Dark Knight.
Harvey was relieved by Erik Goeddel who pitched well, going 2/3 of an inning and striking out 2 while allowing a harmless double to Jayson Werth.
Addison Reed pitched extremely well again, tossing one inning whilst allowing a hit and striking out 2. He continues to be a fantastic pickup made by Sandy via trade waivers.
Former National Tyler Clippard game in and pitched the 8th inning after the Mets took a 8-7 lead. He blew away his former team, pitching a perfect inning and striking out two to preserve the lead.
As expected, the ball was entrusted to closer Jeurys Familia with an 8-7 lead in the 9th. After getting ahead 0-2 on Jayson Werth, he singled to center off a 91mph slider. After falling behind 3-1 against Anthony Rendon who was showing bunt the whole time, Rendon put down a hard bunt to Lucas Duda who spun around and threw a strike to second base to get the lead runner. This brought Bryce Harper to the plate, who Familia walked on a full count sinker inside. This put the tying run on second base with one out.
Yunel Escobar then stepped into the batting box, who took a giant hack at the first pitch, a 96 mph sinker, but whiffed for strike one. He then fouled off a 98 mph sinker for strike two. Then, a sinker was hit to the Captain at third who tossed it to Murphy at second base, then on to Duda at first for the double play to end the ballgame. Wow.
Offense:
The Mets scored their first run in the 2nd inning when David Wright demolished a home run down the left field line on a 3-2 pitch from Nats starter Jordan Zimmermann.
All was quiet before the 7th inning, which was extremely eventful. Facing new pitcher Blake Treinen, David Wright led off the inning with a single to right field. Two outs were quickly recorded via a Lucas Duda flyout and a Travis d’Arnaud popup to shortstop, however despite there being two outs, the inning was not close to being over.
Michael Conforto drew a walk, and soon after Wilmer Flores singled up the middle to score Wright and move Conforto to third base. The Mets brought in Kelly Johnson to pinch hit, and the Nationals countered by bringing in lefty Felipe Rivero. The Mets then countered again, pinch hitting for Johnson with Juan Uribe, who walked. Then, with the bases loaded, Curtis Granderson drew a walk to score a run, slimming the deficit to 7-3.
Drew Storen was brought in to pitch to Yoenis Cespedes with the bases loaded… Lucky him… Yoenis Cespedes once again came up HUGE, driving a bases-clearing double down the left field line to make it a 7-6 game.
Daniel Murphy then walked to put runners on first and second, bringing David Wright to the plate. A wild pitch moved both runners up, and David Wright was walked to fill the bases. Lucas Duda was then walked with the bases loaded to tie the game at 7, the second bases loaded walk of the inning. As Ron Darling said, “There isn’t a tent big enough for the circus of an inning Washington is having.” Travis d’Arnaud then lined out to Harper in right field to end the inning.
In the 8th inning, the Nationals brought in closer Jonathan Papelbon to keep the game tied. He got 2 quick outs, but then Kirk Nieuwenhuis pinch hit for Addison Reed. He blasted a solo home run far over the right field wall to give the Mets a 8-7 lead that would last for the rest of the night. Wow.
Notes:
I haven’t stopped smiling since the 7th inning. Going into that inning, I was bracing for an excruciating loss which would all be blamed on Harvey being distracting by the innings cap, Boras, etc. Despite the deficit, the Mets erased all doubts in my mind with a 6-run inning. Not only did that give me confidence the Mets would win the game, it gave me confidence that they will win for the rest of the season.
Face it folks, this is not the same Mets that failed in 2007. This team has better pitching and an arguably better offense, and they are in it to win it. They put another nail in Washington’s coffin this evening, lowering the magic number to 19!!
On Deck:
The Mets will send ace Jacob deGrom (12-7, 2.40 ERA) to the mound against Nationals’ starter Stephen Strasburg (8-6, 4.35 ERA) wednesday night at 7:05pm in Nationals Park.
