The Mets (49-45) defeated the Nationals (50-42) by a score of 7-2 Tuesday night at Nationals Park.
Pitching:
All-Star Jacob deGrom started for the Mets, going 6 strong innings allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits while striking out 8. The only blemish was a 5th inning 2-run home run off the bat of Met-killer Wilson Ramos.
Terry Collins pinch-hit for deGrom in the top of the 7th inning after he had only thrown 82 pitches with runners on second and third with one out. At the time I was doing my “What the hell, Terry?!?!” routine, but the Mets scored 2 runs that would secure deGrom’s 10th win of the season so in hindsight it was a good move.
Jenrry Mejia pitched a clean 7th inning, allowing a hit and striking out one. Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect 8th, finishing off the inning by striking out Dan Uggla looking at a 96 mph fastball on the outside corner. His velocity is coming back slowly but surely, it’s nice to see.
Terry brought in Jeurys Familia to pitch the 9th despite a 5-run lead despite my yelling at the television. After inducing a bloop flyout to right field, he ran into some trouble. On a soft ground ball, Duda went to his right to field the ball and when he threw it to Familia covering first, he missed the base. He then plunked Bryce Harper on the foot to put runners on first and second with one out. However he then struck out Yunel Escobar flailing at a 99 mph sinker and induced a ground ball off the bat of Clint Robinson to end the game.
Offense:
Wilmer Flores had a nice day at the plate, going 2-4 with 2 RBIs a walk and a run scored. His 4th inning RBI single was the Mets’ first run of the game. Lucas Duda and Kevin Plawecki also contributed with hard hit balls, Duda’s a double and Plawecki’s a single.
In the top of the 7th inning, the Mets had runners on second and third with one out. Despite deGrom’s low pitch count (82 pitches through 6 innings), Terry elected to pinch hit for him with Eric Campbell. The move paid off, as Campbell lined a base hit to right-center field to score both runs, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead and putting deGrom in line for a well deserved win.
Consecutive singles by Curtis Granderson, Ruben Tejada, and Daniel Murphy in the 9th inning contributed to a 4-run inning, staking the Mets to a 7-2 lead. Tejada, by the way, now has a nine game hitting streak.
Notes:
The Mets are now 35-5 when they score 4 or more runs and 41-3 when leading after seven innings.
The Mets entered the game 4-for-their-last-72 with runners in scoring position over their last ten games, but went 5-for-14 with runners in scoring position tonight. Keep it going, guys!
Collins brought in Familia despite a 5 run lead. He was effective, however hopefully it won’t cause problems if the Mets need him to pitch in the next few days rest wise.
On Deck:
The Mets will send Noah “Thor” Syndergaard (4-5, 3.05 ERA) to the hill tomorrow at Nationals Park (12:35 pm ET) to face the Nationals’ starter Jordan Zimmermann (8-5, 3.27 ERA).
