The Mets fell short against the Nationals on Wednesday night, losing 2-1 in the nation’s capital.
Jacob deGrom got the start for the Mets and was good, although he didn’t have his best stuff. deGrom went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks, striking out six.
The game was delayed for nearly an hour by a rainy forecast, keeping deGrom and Nats starter Jordan Zimmermann waiting. Possibly because of this (but more likely because of the sophomore slump! panic!), deGrom didn’t come out sharp in the first inning, and surrendered a two-run shot to Ryan Zimmerman that would hold up for the rest of the night.
It probably shouldn’t have held up, however. After Michael Cuddyer lined out to start the top of the third, Daniel Murphy, Juan Lagares, and Travis d’Arnaud strung together three straight singles, getting a run on the board and putting runners on first and second. #8 hitter Jacob deGrom failed to get a bunt down, but Wilmer Flores reached on an infield single to load the bases for Curtis Granderson with two out. Granderson worked the count full, and when the payoff pitch appeared to sail in high, Granderson started walking to first, only to be called out by the home-plate umpire, ending the inning and denying the Mets their second run.
deGrom worked in and out of trouble for the next few innings, not pitching particularly efficiently, but not allowing the Nationals to add to their lead. Meanwhile, Jordan Zimmermann coasted through the Met lineup, inducing a mix of weak pop-ups and hard-hit balls which never failed to find a Washington glove (not even the pop-ups!)
The Mets got the tying run in scoring position with two outs in the seventh when Kirk Nieuwenhuis worked a walk off the bench and stole second, but Wilmer Flores could not bring him home against Craig Stammen, symbolically grounding out to Ian Desmond. Rafael Montero came in to pitch after the Stretch and worked around a Michael Taylor double to put up a scoreless frame.
David Wright roped one for a one-out hit, his first base knock of the season, in the top of the eighth. But he wouldn’t get to spend long on the basepaths. Lucas Duda lined one right at the pitcher Blake Treinen, who caught it and doubled off the Captain at first. Montero was perfect in the home half of the eighth, and the Mets headed into their final turn at the plate needing one run to tie the game.
But Drew Storen would have none of it, retiring the side in order and striking out a pair en route to his first save of the season.
I forgot how much I hate losses… those that count, that is. The Mets fell behind early and spent nearly the entire game fighting for the run they needed to tie it up. And they couldn’t do it. We’ve seen our fair share of those games over the years, haven’t we?
From a results standpoint, the offense has been pretty poor these first couple games after an amazing spring. We have four runs in eighteen innings, only one of which was earned. But make no mistake: the Mets could have easily put up some crooked numbers in this game. Duda, Cuddyer, and Lagares in particular had some awful luck on well-struck balls. The Nationals were somehow catching everything out there. For Exhibit A, however, we should look to one of the few baseballs that did land safely for a hit. Duda’s single in the top of the sixth had no business being a single. The Big Lebowski rocketed one to right that took a perfect carom off the wall right to where Bryce Harper was waiting for it, seemingly losing no speed after its impact with the fence. The slow-footed Duda was right to avoid testing Harper’s arm– I’m not sure if an average runner could have made it to second after that freak bounce.
Speaking of Harper, he was everywhere tonight. He is absurdly talented, and he’s my MVP pick for a reason. He had two hits tonight after going deep in the opener, and wreaked havoc defensively despite not making any highlight-reel plays. His arm (and good positioning, and good fortune) held Duda to a single in the sixth and did the same to Wright in the eighth. He showed great range, covering a good amount of ground to flag down some balls in the gap, and he never looked like he was trying all that hard while he was doing it. I can’t stand that guy, because he’s missing one key thing: he’s not on my team.
deGrom wasn’t the guy we’ve become accustomed to seeing, but he was quite solid. I’m tempted to give him a pass on the first-inning mistake due to the rain delay (and even if I don’t, two runs isn’t too bad). After falling behind early, he did what he needed to do, giving the Mets a chance to beat Zimmermann, working out of jams to keep that precious third run off the board. The bats (and the BABIP gods) just didn’t pick him up tonight.
Montero looked great out of the pen. His command was terrific. The offense has been a bit of a letdown over the first couple games, but the bullpen has been a pleasant surprise (including Mejia becoming the first Met in a century to be diagnosed with an elbow issue and not going under the Tommy John knife within the next week. I hope. The week is young.)
Another Spring-defying “trend” (and I use the term way too loosely) in the opening days of the season? Travis d’Arnaud has been picking up some hits, after struggling mightily in Port St. Lucie. It’d be great if he could get off to a good start after what he went through early last season.
One big complaint: Curtis Granderson. Curtis is a veteran. He’s a smart guy. And he absolutely HAS to know by now that the easiest way to get called out on a 3-2 pitch is to start walking to first base! That pitch didn’t look like a strike. Regardless of Granderson’s actions, the umpire probably should have called it a ball and made it a 2-2 game, which might have changed the outcome of the evening. But Grandy may have sealed his fate with the premature reaction. Curtis, my basketball team (Let’s go Knicks!) is already losing games on purpose. I don’t need my baseball team throwing ballgames away as well.
Up Next: 1:05 PM Thursday. You know who’s pitching. Let’s take this series.
