The Washington Nationals (94-61) defeated the New York Mets (66-89) by a score of 3-2 at Citi Field Sunday afternoon.

Pitching

Jacob deGrom started for the Mets needing 14 outs to reach his goal of pitching 200 innings in the regular season (he had pitched 216 innings in 2015 including the playoffs). After striking out five Nationals in the first two innings, Trea Turner touched him up for a two-run shot over the Great Wall of Flushing to give the Nats a 2-1 lead.

Michael Taylor led off the 5th inning with a little dribbler to third base that he beat out for an infield single – his first ever hit against deGrom. He then attempted to steal second but the throw from Travis d’Arnaud skipped into center field allowing him to head to third. Jose Lobaton then dunked a dying quail into left field scoring Taylor, increasing the Nationals’ lead to 3-1.

With a strikeout of Trea Turner for the second out of the 5th inning, deGrom reached his 200-inning plateau. He ended up pitching six innings today, throwing 102 pitches. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, striking out 11 and walking none. He finishes his season having thrown 201.1 innings with a 3.53 ERA and 3.50 FIP with 239 strikeouts, 59 walks, and a 15-10 record.

Hansel Robles relieved deGrom for the 7th inning and was greeted by Victor Robles. Hansel won the Robles vs. Robles matchup as Victor flew out to center field. He ended up pitching two hitless innings, striking out one and walking one.

Paul Sewald came in for the top of the 9th inning and with the help of some outstanding defense from Juan Lagares, he tossed a 1-2-3 inning.

Offense

After Jose Reyes was robbed of an extra base hit in the first inning by right fielder Victor Robles, he was tested again by Brandon Nimmo. In order to catch Nimmo’s ball, Robles would have had to jump up to the second deck in right field which he was unable to do, so chalk it up as a solo home run for Nimmo to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead.

Nationals starter Max Scherzer was brilliant today, pitching six innings, allowing only one run on three hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts. Jacob deGrom was the only Mets starter not to strike out against Max Scherzer, who is a strong 2017 NL Cy Young candidate.

The Mets were mostly quiet until the 8th inning when Juan Lagares led off with a hard-hit single to center field off Ryan Madson. After pinch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera struck out, Nori Aoki came up to the dish. Lagares took off for second and Aoki lined a base hit through the vacated hole to left field, a perfect hit-and-run to put runners on first and third. Jose Reyes then knocked an RBI single to center field, his second hit of the day, scoring Lagares and trimming the Nationals’ lead to 3-2.

Brandon Nimmo then strolled to the box with runners on first and second. Trailing by a run, Nimmo worked a full count but struck out looking at a 96 mph fastball on the inside corner. Travis d’Arnaud then worked a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Dominic Smith.

Dusty Baker countered Smith with lefty reliever Sammy Solis. Not to be out-managed, Terry Collins pinch-hit Kevin Plawecki for Smith who worked a full count. With the baserunners going on the payoff pitch, Plawecki swung and missed at a fastball up and out of the strike zone to end the inning and the threat.

The Mets had the bottom part of the order due up for the bottom of the 9th inning, down by a run. Brandon Kintzler came in to nail down the save for the Nationals and was greeted by Phillip Evans who grounded out to shortstop. Amed Rosario then beat out an infield single to third base, providing more evidence that backs up his being the fastest shortstop in the MLB.

Next up was Juan Lagares who knocked a base hit to center field, his second hit of the day. With runners on first and second, one out, Matt Reynolds came up to pinch hit. He tried to recreate Rosario’s infield hit to third but wasn’t as fast as his counterpart and was thrown out at first by Rendon. Both runners moved up, though, with Nori Aoki coming up. Aoki hit it towards the pitcher Kintzler who gloved it waist-high and threw it to first to end the game.

On Deck

The Mets welcome the Atlanta Braves to Citi Field for a double header on Monday. Game one features Chris Flexen (3-4, 7.13 ERA) for the Mets and Lucas Sims (2-5, 5.14 ERA) for the Braves. For game two, the Mets will send Seth Lugo (6-5, 5.03 ERA) to the hill to face off against the Braves whose starter has yet to be announced.