John Mayberry homered for his new club on Thursday
The Mets (1-1) lost 5-4 to the Nationals (1-0) at Space Coast Stadium on Thursday.
Bartolo Colon got the start for the Mets and looked good (well, he pitched nicely), tossing two perfect innings. But Hansel Robles gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and a hit batsman in his inning of work, and Gabriel Ynoa allowed a run on 2 hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning, although he did whiff two hitters. Josh Edgin was decent, throwing an inning and a third (1 hit, 1 walk, 1 inherited runner allowed to score), and Cody Satterwhite worked around a walk and a hit to put up a scoreless frame of his own. Cory Mazzoni was next, and he struggled mightily, striking out 2 but allowing 2 runs on a walk and 4 hits (one of which left the yard). Chase Bradford (anybody else miss Chad? He was awesome) finished up the day’s work on the mound for the Mets, allowing one hit but getting through his inning unscathed.
The Nationals trotted out their big new acquisition, Max Scherzer, to the mound for their spring opener. The 2013 Cy Young Winner (whose eyes are two different colors, which never ceases to amaze me) pitched two innings, with the only damage being a solo shot in the second inning off the bat of the Mets’ slightly-lower-profile winter acquisition, John Mayberry.
Armed with a 1-0 lead thanks to Mayberry, the Mets came to bat in the third inning against Tanner Roark. Matt den Dekker worked a one-out walk, and after Ruben Tejada swapped places with him on a fielder’s choice, Eric Campbell hit one over the left-field wall to put New York up 3-0. The Mets tacked on another run on back-to-back-to-back singles from Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mayberry, and Anthony Recker before Roark got out of the inning.
An inning after Robles’ struggles (compounded by an error from Wilfredo Tovar) helped the Nats cut the Mets’ lead to 2, Ynoa got himself into a bases-loaded jam which Edgin was called upon to handle. The lefty surrendered a single to Derrick Robinson, cutting the Mets’ advantage to 1, but retired Anthony Rendon to keep the lead intact.
The score held until the bottom of the seventh, when Mazzoni surrendered a leadoff single to Clint Robinson and then a 2-run blast to Kila Ka’aihue that put Washington up 5-4. Mazzoni struck out the next two hitters, but a couple singles and a walk loaded the bases with 2 outs. Unlike Ynoa, Mazzoni was left in to handle his own bases-loaded mess, and once again it was Robinson there to greet him. Unlike Edgin, Mazzoni retired Robinson, but the damage had been done.
The Mets got a runner in scoring position with two outs in the eighth after Cesar Puello singled and moved to 2nd on an error, but Dilson Herrera lined one into the glove of Eric Fornataro on the mound to end the threat. The Mets couldn’t muster anything in their final turn at the plate, and, to the surprise of nobody who followed the MLB in 2014, the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets in a game of baseball.
Recap of hitters you should probably care about:
Eric Campbell: 1-3, HR, BB, R, 2 RBI
John Mayberry: 2-2, HR, BB, R, RBI
Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-3, R, 2K
Anthony Recker: 1-3, RBI, K
Matt den Dekker: 0-2, BB, K
Brandon Nimmo: 0-2
Ruben Tejada: 0-3, K, R (had reached on Fielder’s Choice)
Matt Reynolds: 0-2
Kevin Plawecki: 0-1
Cesar Puello: 1-3, K
Dilson Herrera: 0-2
Hopefully we can break the Nats curse when the real games begin. Anyway, it was nice to see Mayberry and Soup produce. Having a good bench can really help a team.
Up Next: The Mets will play the Tigers at 1:10 on Friday at Tradition Field, in a game that will be televised on SNY. Matt Harvey (MATT HARVEY!!!!!!!!) will face David Price. Top prospect Noah Syndergaard will also pitch for the Mets.
