The New York Mets (54-60) were defeated by the Washington Nationals (61-51) tonight at Nationals Park by a score of 7-1.
What you should know:
The Nationals got off to an early start in the bottom of the first inning, as they put up a three spot, thanks to a Jayson Werth RBI single and an Adam LaRoche two-run home run.
Washington would add on to their lead in the bottom of the sixth, as Danny Espinosa hit a three-run shot, making it 6-0.
Niese would pitch six innings, allowing six runs on eight hits, while walking two and striking out two, taking the loss. Niese has now lost four straight games for the first time in his career.
Doug Fister was solid for the Nationals, as he stymied the Mets over 7 and 1/3rd’s innings, allowing only an unearned run and and striking out seven, earning the win.
After the Mets got on the scoreboard with one run in the top of the eighth, the Nationals would answer back with an Adam LaRoche home run – his second of the game to put the nail in the coffin.
Thoughts:
Well, this was a disappointing and frustrating loss. Jon Niese put himself in a hole right off the bat, as he surrendered three runs in the first inning and never rebounded from it. Niese consistently left pitches over the plate and missed his spots throughout the evening, and it came back to bite him, as he allowed two home runs and six earned runs over a span of six innings.
The Mets offense was almost nonexistent tonight, as they could only muster up one unearned run off of Doug Fister. The Mets’ hitters never looked like they got comfortable up there at the plate, as there was obvious displeasure from the Mets players regarding home plate umpire Larry Vanover’s strike zone. Nevertheless, the Mets drop this one to the division leaders, and look to take the rubber game tomorrow afternoon.
On deck:
Jacob deGrom (6-5, 2.77 ERA) squares off against Jordan Zimmermann (7-5, 3.00 ERA) tomorrow afternoon at 12:35 PM to wrap up this three game series before heading off to Philadelphia.
