Trevor Williams Labors Through Five Solid Innings Against Nationals

The New York Mets sent Trevor Williams to the mound as they looked to conclude their five-game series against the Washington Nationals with a victory.

Since coming over in the Javier Baez trade, Williams has provided the Mets with solid pitching. In four appearances (two starts), Williams has only allowed two runs (one earned), eight hits, and four walks across 13 innings.

Williams continued that success against the Nationals on Labor Day, but it did not come easily.

Williams entered the first inning with a one-run lead in support of his cause. He made sure Lane Thomas did not immediately erase that lead as he got him to ground out to prevent him from hitting his third-straight leadoff home run.

However, the lead did not last past the inning. Alcides Escobar tripled to right field and scored two pitches later after Juan Soto grounded out to second base.

Williams ran into further trouble in the inning as he walked Josh Bell and gave up a double to Yadiel Hernandez. However, he struck out Carter Kieboom on three pitches to limit the damage.

In the second inning, Williams gave up a leadoff double to Alex Avila on the first pitch he threw, and got Luis Garcia to line out one pitch later. Avila was erased as he tried to advance to third on a ground ball that Patrick Corbin hit to shortstop.

Thomas continued the first-pitch hitting a batter later as he hit a single on a ground ball to right field. Williams closed out the inning as Escobar hit a fly ball to left field.

Williams started off the third inning by allowing a five-pitch walk to Soto. He advanced to third after Bell hit a sharp line drive that Pete Alonso was unable to handle at first.

The defense picked up Williams over the next two batters. Williams got Hernandez to line out to right field, but Soto wisely chose not to challenge Michael Conforto‘s arm. Kieboom hit a ground ball to third and Soto was tagged out trying to score as Jonathan Villar chose to throw home instead of to first.

Williams then got Avila to fly out to escape the third inning unscathed.

The fourth was another tough inning for Williams. He gave up three straight singles which allowed the Nationals to tie the game at 2-2. After a visit to the mound from Jeremy Hefner, Williams settled down to retire his next three batters on a strikeout, flyout, and groundout.

In the fifth inning, Williams got Hernandez out on a three-pitch strikeout, the first leadoff hitter he had retired since the first inning.

Afterwards, Williams again quickly got himself into trouble as he allowed back-to-back singles to Kieboom and Avila. Hefner visited Williams at the mound one more time and five pitches later Williams got Garcia to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Overall Williams labored through his five innings of work. He worked in and out of trouble as he allowed 10 hits and two walks, but limited the Nationals to just the two runs.