Photo Credit: Bill Kostroun, AP
The Nationals (64-53) beat the Mets (57-63) by a score of 7-1 on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Rafael Montero got the start for the Mets in his return to the Majors and pitched decently, but had his outing ruined by the long-ball. Washington took Montero deep three times, including twice in the 6th inning, and the rookie departed with no outs in the 6th having allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 5-plus innings in which he struck out 4 and threw 101 pitches.
Ian Desmond walked to lead off the top of the 2nd against Rafael, and while Gary Cohen was wrapping up a sentence about Bryce Harper hitting an opposite-field, game-winning, 2-run home-run against the Mets last week, Harper drilled another opposite-field, 2-run home-run, giving Doug Fister all the support he would need.
Fister dominated the Mets’ offense once again, and while they looked a bit better than they did in the previous matchup, they still never really got it going with the bats.
The game was delayed by rain for a short time in the 3rd inning.
Montero settled in for a few innings, keeping the Mets in the ballgame while they tried to solve Fister. However, things fell apart in the top of the 6th. Anthony Rendon hit a solo shot to left to start the inning. After Adam LaRoche walked, Dan Warthen went out for a mound visit and–presumably–told Montero to serve up a 2-run shot to Ian Desmond. Montero obliged, hanging a slider to the Washington shortstop, who parked it into the seats to send Rafael to the showers. Carlos Torres game in to relieve Montero and retired Harper before surrendering a base-hit to Wilson Ramos and then allowing Michael Taylor to get his first home run in his MLB debut. Torres bounced back and got the next 2 hitters, but not before the Nats had opened up a 7-0 lead.
The Mets started getting some guys on base in the later innings, but didn’t score until they loaded the bases with no outs in the 8th, and managed to cash in 1 run (O, how they spoil us!) on a sacrifice fly from pinch-hitter Eric Campbell.
Buddy Carlyle and Dana Eveland kept the Nationals at bay in the final 2 innings, but there would be no heroic rally tonight, and the Nationals came away with yet another victory over the Mets.
Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac, Getty Image
Montero wasn’t terrible tonight, but Harper got a good swing on a pitch low-and-away, and then Rafael hung a couple sliders in the 6th. He wasn’t too wild, and he seemed to respond well to the rain delay. I said it with d’Arnaud, I said it with Wheeler, I’ll say it with Montero. If you try to make a final verdict on a prospect based on their first couple of months in the Majors, well… I’m glad you’re not in the Mets’ front office.
But speaking of the Mets’ front office, where the heck were they when the Tigers were trading Fister. That guy is a stud, and the Nationals basically got him for nothing. There seem to be several trades a year where a team gets a solid deal and you have to ask yourself, “what is Sandy doing in his office all day long?” I know, I know, he’s on the phone with Kyle Farnsworth. But where is his assistant???
Every ball the Nationals got some decent wood on seemed to carry and carry until it went over the fence. Every time the Mets made some pretty nice contact and sent one to a gap or a wall, it seemed to hang up and wait for Harper, Span, or Taylor to jog under it. I guess it wasn’t our day.
Apparently, the Mets have the lowest Runs Scored total in the MLB since the All-Star Break. They’ve won a decent amount of games since the break, so I’m surprised by that number. But it really stinks when you consider that we were red-hot coming into the break and then had to take nearly a week off. Sigh…
Well, Terry. You did it. You done gone and killed that poor boy Carlos Torres. Seriously, Terry’s overuse of Torres has to be the explanation for this. Torres was great for us last year and for the first half of this year. Then, he takes a few days off, comes back, and hasn’t pitched well since. Did he complain of arm fatigue, leading to the rest? That might be a sign of an injury, which would explain why he has forgotten to pitch… Come back to us, Torres. We need your rubber arm.
David Wright had 2 more hits today and is on an 11-game hitting streak. The Captain’s dedicated critics will be sorry to hear this, but it is my duty to report the facts. Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Flores each had 2 hits as well. It might have been a decent game, had we not lost 7-1…
Every time we play the Nationals, they seem to open up a Home Run Derby on us. Hopefully Bartolo can keep runners off base and, um, stomach a few solo shots while keeping us in the game tomorrow.
Up Next: The Mets will look for redemption tomorrow against the Nationals at Citi Field. New York’s Bartolo Colon (11-9, 3.97 ERA) will face Washington’s Jordan Zimmermann (7-5, 3.06 ERA) at 7:10 PM.
