Scherzer, Offense Thrive in 8-2 Blowout Win Over Nationals

The New York Mets (20-21) completed their split-admission doubleheader against the Washington Nationals on Mother’s Day. After dropping the first game in the doubleheader 3-2, the Mets’ offense came back to life to Washington 8-2. All eight runs coming in the fifth inning.

Their eight runs in the game is the most they scored since the beginning of the month when they lost to the Atlanta Braves on May 1. The Mets’ offense before today’s game had scored a total of 12 runs since the start of the road trip in Cincinnati.

Max Scherzer returned to form against his former team, as the veteran threw five inning of one-run ball. Scherzer gave up two hits, two walks, and struck out six . A much-needed quality outing from an individual the Mets need to pitch like an ace.

Brooks Raley also came back from the injured list in the sixth inning and had a relatively shaky outing. After walking the first two batters in the inning, he struck out Stone Garrett before loading the bases with a couple more walks. Raley settled in and got CJ Abrams to fly out to Brandon Nimmo.

Jake Irvin started for the Washington Nationals and kept the Mets at bay throughout the first half of the game. Aside from two double from Francisco Lindor and Mark Canha, Irvin was an enigma for the Mets offense.

Then, Mets solved that issue in the top of the fifth inning. Starling Marte got the offensive party started with a single and was sent home with a Canha double to tie the game at one.

After Tommy Pham walked to put runners on first and second, Nimmo singled to bring Canha home and put the Mets in front, 2-1. Lindor then knocked an infield single which tallied another run. Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Brett Baty, who was walked to score the fourth Mets run of the inning.  Marte came back up to the plate to score two more runs on a bloop single. Lastly, to cap it off, Canha knocked another two runs home to tally eight runs in the fifth inning to put New York up 8-1.

Zach Muckenhirn took the mound for the Mets in the top of the eighth inning. After Garrett was hit by a pitch and Alex Call singled, Abrams singled off Muckenhirn to bring home the Nationals’ second run of the game. That was all the scoring the Nationals did, as they were only able to muster two runs.

Overall, it was terrific to see Scherzer regain his form. Further, the eight-run inning was a terrific sign for a Mets’ offense that desperately needed to break out. The break out was also led by some New York players who have been struggling as of late. Namely, Canha and Marte. A nice end to a long day of baseball.

Players of the Game: Mark Canha

Mark Canha’s bat woke up in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader. Canha went 3-for-4 on the day with two doubles and a single. His second double of the game and his single each brought home a run. Canha also played sold defensively, making one nice sliding catch.

On Deck:

The Mets (20-21) look to get back to .500 and win their first series since their trip to Los Angeles as they take on Patrick Corbin and the Washington Nationals in the final contest of the four-game set tomorrow. David Peterson will get take the mound for the Mets before they return home for a three-game series against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays.