The Mets (89-71) continued their recent slide, dropping their fourth straight in a 3-1 loss to the Nationals (82-78) in the first game of Saturday’s Citi Field doubleheader.
Noah Syndergaard pitched for the Mets and was terrific. Thor struck out 10 in seven innings, allowing one run on two hits and a walk, also hitting a batter.
The Mets struggled against Gio Gonzalez as their offensive woes continued. Washington took a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh on a monstrous solo shot from Clint Robinson.
The Mets got that run right back against the Washington bullpen. A walk from Lucas Duda and singles from Ruben Tejada and Juan Lagares tied up the game.
The Nationals went back in front in the top of the eighth against Addison Reed. Anthony Rendon drew a one-out walk with some help from a questionable call on a 2-2 pitch (it appeared that the pitch was a strike, and that the hitter went around). The next batter hit a grounder right to Daniel Murphy, who bobbled it before throwing to Tejada covering second for the out. Tejada had plenty of time to make the relay, but his throw went awry, and the Mets missed out on an inning-ending double-play. Bryce Harper made Reed pay, crushing a two-run shot to give the Nats a lead of 3-1, which would become the final score.
Well, that wasn’t good. The Mets no longer control their destiny when it comes to getting Home-Field Advantage in the NLDS. The Dodgers’ magic number is 2, and each team has 2 games left. The Mets need one win and two Dodgers losses, or two wins and one Dodgers loss.
Syndergaard looked great. If he pitches like that, the Mets have a chance to beat whoever the Dodgers throw at them.
The bullpen didn’t look so good between Reed in the eighth and Jon Niese in the ninth. Reed got squeezed by the ump and betrayed by his defense, but he’ll have to get the big hitters out in the playoffs, and he certainly didn’t get it done against Harper (regardless of whether Harper should have gotten a chance to hit there). With Tyler Clippard‘s recent struggles, Hansel Robles‘ recent struggles, and the woes of the rest of the pen, and the likely unavailability of Steven Matz, I’m a bit concerned.
I’m also worried that Murphy’s frequent desire to “do too much” will hurt him when he finds himself in the playoff spotlight. He handles pressure well at the plate, but not in the field. That being said, that failed double-play was on Tejada as well.
I will never agree with the rule that botched double-plays cannot cause runs to be scored as “unearned.”
Although the offense was bad and has been bad for some time now, it was nice to see the Mets bounce right back after giving up that first run. This team is resilient.
Home-Field Advantage might not be extremely important (I’ll have a post coming up about that), but I’d like to get it. Let’s see if the Mets can bounce back in a few hours, and get some help from the Padres against the Dodgers.
Up Next: The Mets will play the nightcap of their doubleheader with the Nationals at 7:10 PM/ Matt Harvey (13-7, 2.80 ERA) will face Max Scherzer (13-12, 2.91 ERA) at Citi Field.
