The Mets defeated the Nationals by a score of 11-9 during today’s spring training matchup in Port St. Lucie.
New York jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first with a solo home run from Curtis Granderson. Granderson finished the day going 1 for 2 with a walk. Michael Cuddyer also contributed early with a home run in the third inning off of reliever Evan Meek.
However, it wasn’t until the 8th inning that the Mets offense exploded. The Mets scored nine runs in the 8th and received key RBI hits from Wilmer Flores, Johnny Monell and Eric Campbell. Matt den Dekker added to the damage with a triple and Alex Castellanos crushed a two run home run to put the up the Mets up for good.
On the pitching side, Jacob deGrom started for the Mets and he allowed two runs during three innings while striking out five batters. Both runs were scored on a double by Michael Taylor in the third inning
Top prospect Steven Matz pitched three innings in relief and allowed two runs. Matt Bowman also pitched in relief and he tossed two shutout innings.
Dario Alvarez struggled mightily in the 9th inning as he yielded four runs and three walks without retiring a batter. The tough part was that three of the only four batters he faced were left-handed hitters.
On Deck: Jon Niese will take the mound tomorrow at home against the Atlanta Braves at 1:10 pm. The game will be televised on SNY.
