After Rick Porcello‘s last few starts, not much was expected in Wednesday night’s game against the Nationals. Yet, the Mets were in for a pleasant surprise when Porcello went seven innings only allowing one run and five hits on his way to picking up his 150th career win.

Over the seven innings, Porcello pitched 56 strikes on 81 pitches bringing his WHIP down to 1.77, which is a major improvement compared to his previous 3.00. Porcello was able to work his way out of almost every situation, with the help of a strong Mets defense, the 31-year-old displaying a much more composed version of himself that the team has really needed to see.

In the first, Porcello allowed a double to Adam Eaton who was eventually knocked in on a double by a newly active Juan Soto. Rick was able to minimize the damage and finish the inning by catching a lineout from Howie Kendrick.

Through the rest of his start, Porcello only allowed singles to Eric Thames in the second, then Juan Soto and Asdrubal Cabrera in the fourth. Porcello was helped by several strong defensive plays on the night from Andres Gimenez, Luis Guillorme, J.D. Davis, and Michael Conforto.

Porcello’s final line: 7 IP, 5 H, ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 81 pitches/56 strikes, 1-1, 6.92 ERA

Seth Lugo locked down the 3-1 win in Washington with two scoreless innings. Mets pitching retired the last 16 batters they faced.

Rick was happy with his best start as a Met, “You’re getting some ground balls, guys are making great plays and things are working. You kind of keep that pace going….It’s a great feeling. And when you’re getting those results, you kind of get into that rhythm of, ‘Why change?

The main improvement overall that was seen from Porcello was with the command of his off-speed pitches,  they were well placed down and away for the most part.

Porcello had allowed six walks in his first two outings, but he showed much better control on Wednesday and that was a big key in limiting the Nationals scoring attack.

Another big plus for Porcello was the amount of ground balls he was able to induce, he had only six ground ball outs in his first two starts but 10 on Wednesday. If Porcello is going to continue to be successful with the Mets, he will need this trend to continue.

Luis Rojas liked what he saw from Porcello and the D, “When you’re throwing like that, three pitches or less inducing contact, typically the defense, they’re going to be on their toes.”

Hopefully, this game has given a glimpse of the kind of pitcher the 2016 Cy Young award winner can really be with seven innings of one-run ball.