On a damp evening at Citi Field, Zack Wheeler‘s recent stretch of dominance came to an end as his lack of command coupled with a poor defensive effort resulted in a 10-3 blowout loss to the Washington Nationals on Saturday evening.
Bryce Harper sent a fly ball into the Pepsi porch that just barely tucked inside the right-field foul pole after Ian Desmond led off with a walk to put the Nationals up 2-0 in the second.
The same pair would begin the fourth with back-to-back singles. Desmond would score on a pick-off attempt by Travis d’Arnaud that sailed over the glove of Daniel Murphy and into left field, making it a three-run game.
The night just got worse for Wheeler in the fifth inning. Failing to record an out to the three batters he faced, the 24-year-old was relieved by Gonzalez Germen with two on and a run already plated in the inning. Despite the new pitcher, Desmond had the Mets number as he drove a two-run single to center, giving Washington the 6-0 advantage.
Wheeler surrendered six runs, all earned, on seven hits in four plus innings of work while walking two and striking out four, falling to 10-10 on the season.
The Mets responded to the Nats offensive outburst with some well-struck drives of their own. Curtis Granderson ripped a double to lead off the fifth. Wilmer Flores would make it a 6-2 game on a two-run shot to left center, his fourth of the season.
Buddy Carlyle came in to pitch the sixth, falling victim to a sub-par defense behind him. Although Carlyle got a pair of ground balls, three separate errors resulted in the seventh run of the game for the Nationals.
Granderson came on in the sixth with two on and tow out and came through with a base hit that deflected off of first baseman Adam LaRoche to bring the Mets within four at the time.
But Desmond refused to let the Mets come within striking distance, crushing an RBI double off the right centerfield wall in the eighth. He finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBIs, bringing his season total to 86 runs batted in.
In the end the Mets got pasted by the Nationals in what was a sloppy effort that included four errors and poor pitching all the way around.
Lagares had three hits to raise his average to .285. He is hitting .311 (17-49) with seven runs scored, three doubles, five RBI and seven stolen bases in 12 games this month.
Mets 3-4-5 hitters combined to go 0-for-11 and leadoff hitter Eric Young went 0-for-4.
