Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

With their seven-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night, the Mets went into their series finale with Nationals on Wednesday looking to win their third consecutive series. Chris Bassitt took the mound for the Mets against Anibal Sanchez for Washington.

The Mets defeated the Nationals 9-5 behind seven scoreless innings from Bassitt and a grand slam Daniel Vogelbach.

Bassitt found himself in early trouble in the first inning by no fault of his own. Victor Robles reached base on a throwing error by Francisco Lindor to start the bottom of the first, and Luis Garcia followed with a bunt single. Bassitt got out of the trouble just as quickly as he got into it. He struck out Yadiel Hernandez before getting Joey Meneses to ground into an inning-ending double-play.

After both pitchers threw scoreless innings in the second inning, the Mets got the scoring started in the third. With two outs in the inning, Lindor worked a nine-pitch walk to bring Pete Alonso to the plate. Alonso got a first-pitch slider that was low and away, but he was able to go with the pitch and drive it 411 feet over the center field wall to put the Mets ahead 2-0.

Working with the lead, Bassitt got some help from his defense to get through the next two innings quickly. Luis Guillorme made a diving stop on a ball that was already behind him to rob Josh Palacios of a leadoff base hit in the third inning. In the fourth, Bassitt allowed a lead off single to Hernandez, but he was erased on the next pitch when Meneses grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.

The Mets blew the game open in the top of the fifth inning. After a walk by Nimmo, a two-base error that allowed Starling Marte to reach and an intentional walk to Alonso, the Nationals went to Jordan Weems to face Vogelbach with the bases loaded. The Mets’ designated hitter unloaded on a 2-2 fastball for a grand slam, his first home run and RBIs as a Met, to put the Mets up 6-0.

The Mets continued to hit Weems hard in the sixth inning. The inning started with a triple from Guillorme, an RBI double from Nido, and a single from Nimmo. Marte drove in Nido with an RBI ground out, and Lindor followed with a single. When the side was finally retired, the Mets had opened their lead up to 8-0.

With the score out of reach, Bassitt finished his strong outing with two more scoreless innings. He finished his day with seven scoreless innings allowing six hits and just one walk while striking out four Nationals. It was not an overly dominant outing for Bassitt as he struggled to put hitters away with two strikes and had plenty of balls put in play, but his ability to avoid hard contact and the terrific defense behind him led to seven shutout innings for the Mets’ right-hander.

With a nine-run lead, the Mets turned to their newest reliever Mychal Givens to get the final three outs. His first appearance as a Met was a rough one, as he allowed five runs on five hits and two solo home runs while only recording two outs. Seth Lugo came in and recorded the final out to close out the win for the Mets.

With the win, the Mets moved to 13-3 in rubber matches in 2022 and extended their lead in the National League East to 3.5 games over the Braves.

Player of the Game: Daniel Vogelbach

On a day where the Mets scored nine runs and had eight players get at least one hit, Vogelbach provided the biggest hit of the game. His fifth-inning grand slam gave the Mets a six-run lead and put the game out of reach. The Mets may have not made a big-name addition to their lineup at the trade deadline, but Vogelbach’s big day showed just how much of an impact the platoon of him and Darin Ruf at the DH spot can be.

On Deck

The Mets will begin their big five-game series with the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on Thursday night at 7:10 p.m. ET looking to add to their 3.5-game lead in the National League East. Carlos Carrasco (11-4, 3.79 ERA) will start the first game of the series for the Mets. Carrasco was brilliant in July, going 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA over 30 innings. He allowed just three runs while striking out 28 batters over his five July starts. The Braves will have Kyle Wright (13-4, 2.93 ERA) on the mound for the series opener. Wright, like Carrasco, had a strong July, going 4-0 with a 2.64 ERA in five starts. After a rain delay limited his first start of the month to just four innings, he threw quality starts and picked up the win in his next four starts. Despite the overall strong outings, Wright allowed at least one home run in each of those four starts.

The game will be broadcast on SNY, and the radio call will be on WCBS 880.