Nationals 7 Mets 5 (Nationals Park, Washington D.C.)
Mets Record: 42-42
Mets Streak: L1
Mets Last 10: 6-4
WP: Jacob Barnes (4-2)
LP: Jake Diekman (2-3)
SV: Kyle Finnegan (23)
Seat On The Korner: Luis Garcia Jr.
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Today's seat on the Korner goes to Nationals second sacker Luis Garcia Jr., whose three-run homer in the sixth chased Mets starter Christian Scott and whose solo homer off Ty Adcock in the eighth gave the Nats an insurance run. Garcia also scored the Nationals first run in the fifth and made some good plays in the field to help secure the Washington win. Lots to talk about, so have a seat.
Need To Know:
J.D. Martinez was back in the lineup, wearing his favorite footwear. One day after sitting out with a sore ankle he blamed on wearing unfamiliar cleats the night before because, he said, the ones he prefer were on back order, Adidas suddenly found some in his size and arranged for same-day delivery.
All of the Mets five hits were for extra bases: three homers (Tyrone Taylor, Mark Vientos and Francisco Lindor) and two doubles (J.D. Martinez and Ben Gamel)
The Mets have now homered in 16 straight games and hit doubles in 30. The home run streak is the second longest in team, history, trailing the 21-game streak set in 1996. For doubles, it's the third-longest streak. The franchise record is 36 games, set in 2012.
Nationals phenom James Wood, the key acquisiton in the trade that sent Juan Soto to the Padres last year, notched his first RBI -- a single that gave the Nationals a 6-5 lead in the seventh.
The Brandon Sprout legend continues. The 2022 and 2023 draft choice will represent the Mets at the 2024 Futures Game. Pitching for the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Sproat is a combined 5-1 with a 1.61 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched.
Kodai Senga pitched a rehab start in Coney Island, striking out six in two and two-thirds innings of work.
The Mets finish the four-game series against the Nationals with an 11 a.m. holiday matinee, giving the crowd plenty of time to find their favotire seats for the Capital fireworks show on the National Mall. (The Mets won't be around -- they head to Pittsburgh right after the game). Jose Quintana takes the ball for the Mets; Jake Irving goes to the bump for the Nats.
Turning Point
Bottom of the seventh, Mets up by a run and with Adam Ottavino having done his job by ending a Nats rally in the sixth and retiring the first two batters in the seventh, Jake Diekman was brought in to face C.J. Abrams for a lefty-lefty matchup. Abrams worked a 10-pitch walk, which we'll call the turning point. Diekman next faced the right-handed Lane Thomas, who doubled, scoring Abrams, and it was all downhill from there for the Mets.
Three Keys:
Great Scott -- to a Point
Christian Scott, recalled from Syracuse, coasted through four innings, survived the fifth on a double play but tired in the sixth as his pitch count approached triple digits -- significantly more than he had thrown in AAA. His 99th (and last) pitch was hit for a three-run home run by Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia, making it a one-run game and ending what was moving toward a positive night on a sour note. Scott's chance for his first major league win evaporated as Jake Diekman was incendiary.
A Tired Bullpen Comes Up Big
The Nationals bullpen, taxed -- and hit -- heavily the past two days in extra-inning games, came up big in this one. Former Met Jacob Barnes pitched a clean seventh. Robert Garcia, Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan -- all pitching for the third consecutive day -- held the Mets hitless in the eighth and ninth to secure the win
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like -- May (ugh!)
For the second time in a week, the Mets blew a five run lead, with Jake Diekman the main culprit, although Ty Adcock didn't help, giving up an insurance run homer in the eighth. With the bullpen as shaky as it has been since Edwin Diaz' 10-game suspension (eight down, two to do), manager Carlos Mendoza probably felt he had no choice but to leave Christian Scott in the game long past his maximum pitch count for the year, hoping he could get through the sixth. Scott gave up Luis Garcia's three-run homer, and the Nationals comeback was on.
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