Mets 10, Nationals 0 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets Record: 84-68
Mets Streak: W3
Mets Last 10: 6-4
WP: Jose Quintana (10-7)
LP: D.J. Herz (4-8)
Seat On The Korner:
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 Jose Quintana. There was a lot of offense--most of it in the fourth inning (even winning $15,000 for a lucky fan in a contest)--but Quintana didn't need much offense. He allowed just 2 hits in 7 innings, giving him 21 shutout innings this year against Washington and also a career-best 23.2 consecutive scoreless innings. His ERA in his past 5 starts is a microscopic 0.28. That's even more impressive given that his 4 starts before that his ERA was 8.27. The veteran southpaw's turnaround could not have come at a better time.
Need To Know:
Since New York's 9-game winning streak ended on September 8, the Mets have a record of 6-4. All told, that's 15 wins in 19 games.
The 10 games left on the schedule are crucial as the Mets try to grab a playoff spot. With the four teams contending for the Wild Card winning on Wednesday, the Mets have a two-game lead over the Braves for the final spot, and have the advantage for the second Wild Card spot over Arizona. (San Diego has the top Wild Card spot by 2 1/2 games.) The last home series of the year begins Thursday as the first-place Phillies come to Citi Field. The Mets finish on the road next week in Atlanta and Milwaukee.
On Thursday the Mets will send Luis Severino (10-6, 3.77) against former Met Tijuan Walker (3-6, 6.29) for the Phillies. Walker has not been great this season, but his relief outing kept the Phillies in the game Saturday as the rallied to defeat the Mets.
The one downer this week is the news that promising starter Christian Scott, who had a 4.56 ERA in 9 starts for New York, will not be back with the Mets until 2026. The club announced that the 25-year-old right-hander will undergo a hybrid elbow surgery, combining a traditional Tommy John ligament replacement with a stabilizing internal brace. The typical timeline for such a procedure is 12-18 months. The clearly disappointed Scott was nevertheless spotted with a smile as he joined the starting pitchers' ritual jump in a circle with the "OMG" sign in the dugout after another quality start.
The Mets' 11-2 mark against the Washington Nationals is the best ever against that franchise and the best by any Mets club since the 1988 team went 10-1 vs. the Dodgers (during the regular season). From 1969-1992 and 2001-22 the Mets played 18 or 19 games against teams in the division. The other years division teams have played 12 and sometimes 13 games in a season in the division. The previous best in this setup against the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals was 2000, when the NL champs beat the Expos in 9 of 12 games. The most wins overall against the franchise? The 1991 Mets went 14-4 against the Expos, one game better than the 1969 world champion Mets, who pounded the expansion Expos to the tune of 13-5. The '69 Mets are revered as the Miracle Mets, but the '91 Mets? They won 77 games, let go the manager before the end of the year, and finished fifth, ahead of only the Expos. The '91 Mets benefited from 11 games against Montreal at Shea Stadium that year because part of the Olympic Stadium roof collapsed, so two September games were moved to New York.
Turning Point:
The nine-run fourth, the biggest inning of the year for the Mets, blew open the Wednesday night's game. Washington rookie C.J. Herz looked pretty good up to that point, but the Mets jumped him in the fourth and kept pounding reliever Jake Barnes. Below is a breakdown of the inning into three parts.
Three Keys:
The Fourth, Part I
The fourth inning began innocently with a walk to Brandon Nimmo. It was Nimmo's 77th walk of the year, good for third in the National League. Pete Alonso, who hit a bullet to left field for an out his first time up, pulled a single to left field to put the first two runners on. Tyronne Taylor socked a ball into the right-center field gap, but Nimmo read it poorly, went back to tag, and just barely beat the throw home. Catcher Brandon Millus grabbed the relay throw and tagged Nimmo a split second after his hand touched home plate. With Alonso on third and Taylor on second, Mark Vientos, locked in an 0-for-15 drought and with just 3 hits in his last 39 at bats, singled to center to bring both runners home easily.
The Fourth, Part II
After a visiting from pitching coach Jim Hickey, Herz struck out Francisco Alvarez. Harrison Bader then worked out a walk. Luisangel Acuna singled and Vientos came around to score. When Jose Iglesias dumped a single into right, the bases were loaded and Herz was on his way to the showers. Jake Barnes came to the mound and was greeted by a sharp single by Starling Marte that brought home two runs and made it a 6-0 game.
The Fourth, Part II
Boom! Batting for the second time of the inning, Nimmo crushed a ball deep into the Flushing night. The three-run shot into the bullpen was Nimmo's 20th home run of the year and increased his career high of 81 RBI. The lively crowd of 34,196 went crazy and the Mets had their biggest inning of the season, eclipsing the previous high: a seven-run third against the Braves on July 26 at Citi Field. And in the postgame interview in front of the fans, Nimmo told the fans to come out and fill Citi Field for the last four home games against Philadelphia.
The Extra Point
Boom # 2! Luisangel Acuña drilled a home run for the second straight night. Playing just his fifth major league game and filling in at shortstop for team leader Francisco Lindor, Acuña has made Mets fans happy and had made the ninth spot in the order a weapon. The younger brother of injured Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., Luisangel showed poise beyond his 22 years with smooth fielding, a wicked swing, and great potential as he was thrust into the heat of a playoff race. In his first 15 plate appearances, he has a .467 average, 14 total bases, 7 hits, 5 runs, 2 homers, and 4 RBI.
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