Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II, AP
The Mets (57-65) lost to the Nationals (66-53) by a score of 4-1 on Thursday night at Citi Field.
Dillon Gee got the start for the Mets and was decent, but got punished for his mistakes. Gee left one out over the plate to Adam LaRoche in the 1st and had a pitch cut out into the middle of the plate against Bryce Harper in the 4th, and both National Sluggers took him deep for a 2-run shot. Dillon finished with 4 runs allowed on 4 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings, striking out 3 and throwing 93 pitches.
The Nats got out to an early lead on LaRoche’s 2-run shot in the opening frame. David Wright singled against Washington’s Stephen Strasburg in the bottom of the 1st to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, but the Mets could make nothing out of it.
After Harper’s 2-run blast in the top of the 4th, Daniel Murphy led off the bottom of the inning with a single, reaching 2nd when Ian Desmond threw the ball away. Wright struck out, but with Lucas Duda at the plate, Murphy swiped 3rd to put himself 90 feet away. Duda cracked one deep to center, but Denard Span had just enough room to flag it down and Duda was left with an RBI sacrifice fly instead of his 22nd homer of the season.
That 4-1 score would hold for the rest of the night. Eric Young doubled and Curtis Granderson walked to lead off the bottom of the 6th, but Strasburg escaped with the help of a double-play.
Josh Edgin got himself into trouble in the top of the 7th, but Carlos Torres came in and struck out Desmond to bail the lefty out. Torres also tossed a scoreless top of the 8th. Welcome back, Carlos?
Jenrry Mejia came in and worked a 1-2-3 top of the 9th, and the Mets came up looking for a last-minute rally. Murphy and Wright both got out, and Lucas Duda came to the plate. Rafael Soriano pulled a slider too far down and in, and the ball landed right by Duda’s feet, before bouncing off to the other side of the plate, making it appear as if Duda had been hit by the pitch. Duda waited for two seconds, then decided to act as if he had gotten hit. It’s safe to say that Lucas won’t be nominated for any Tony Awards after that performance. Terry came out to challenge, and the umps went to review the play, but after a (surprisingly long) review, the ump upheld his original ruling that the ball had not hit Duda. A few pitches later, Lucas grounded out to end the ballgame, and the Nationals finished off their sweep of the Mets in New York.
Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II, AP
So, about this new commissioner fellow… how about he makes it so we never have to play the Nationals again? That series was deflating, and the Nats have now won 11 in a row at Citi Field (and most of the games we’ve played in Washington, too).
I don’t get how that ball bounced the way it did if it didn’t hit Lucas Duda. But, knowing fully well the ball didn’t hit him, and that replay wouldn’t show that the ball hit him, it was kind of immoral of him to let Terry challenge it, no? I’m tempted to say he should have been ejected for such behavior. But we were 2 strikes away from the end of the game, so that kind of punishment would make the one Ray Rice got look like a life sentence.
Gee could have gone more than 6, as his pitch count wasn’t that high when Terry pulled the plug. Other than the homers, Gee was pretty solid, and it looks like he’s getting his form back after a very solid start his last time out.
Mejia and Torres, two seemingly wounded warriors, were both solid tonight, which is another positive sign. Also, while we’re talking about our relievers, did you guys know Buddy Carlyle has the best ERA in baseball? I was at the game last night and they said it over the PA system… I can’t wrap my head around that. Buddy Carlyle, ERA King.
Up Next: The Mets will kick off a 4 game set with the Cubs tomorrow. Zack Wheeler (7-8, 3.53 ERA) will face Travis Wood (7-9, 4.86 ERA) at 7:10 PM in New York.
