Slumpbusters! Nimmo and McNeil lead Mets in Rout of Nationals

Mets 19 Nationals 5 (Nationals Park, Washington, DC)

Mets Record: 20-9

Mets Streak: W1

Mets Last 10: 8-2

WP: Griffin Canning (4-1)

LP: Trevor Williams (1-3)

SV: Jose Urena (1)

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.

Brandon Nimmo entered today's game with a .192 batting average, with 4 home runs and 12 RBIs on the season. He was 2-12 (.167) this series with 2 RBIs and 2 Ks. By the time the game ended, Nimmo was up to .218, with 6 HRs and 21 RBIs for the season, and a tie with Carlos Delgado for the Mets record for most RBIs in a single ballgame with 9. Nimmo went 4-6 with a single, double, a three-run HR and a grand slam. One of the most productive days at the plate in Mets history has earned Brandon Nimmo a comfortable seat on the Korner.

Need To Know:

This was the 6th time the Mets scored at least 19 runs in a game, and was the first time they've accomplished this since scoring a team-record 24 in Philadelphia on 8/16/2018.
Eight players had at least 2 hits, as the team pounded out 21 total hits on the day. Francisco Lindor was the only Mets batter without a hit, although he was on base a couple time. More about this below.
The Mets are the first major league team to reach 20 wins, and are the only remaining team with single-digit losses (9).
Last year the Mets didn’t get their 20th win until May 16th. They had 23 losses by that date.
By winning today, the Mets have still only lost back-to-back games once this season.
Mark Vientos has now hit safely in 6 straight games, tying his season high. Over his last 13 games he’s batting .320 (16-50), with 11 runs, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, and 12 RBIs.

Former Mets shortstop Amed Rosario pitched the 9th inning for the Nationals, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits, including a home run, walking 3 and striking out none.
Jose Urena made his Mets debut, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits (2 home runs), walking 1 and striking out 3, while “nailing down” the save.

Turning Point

Despite being up 3-0 after 5 innings, the recent Mets come-from-ahead losses made things feel uneasy. That all changed with a 3-run swing from Brandon Nimmo, his first of two home runs on the day.

Three Keys:

Another Record-Tying Performance

Brandon Nimmo wasn’t the only batter to tie a Mets record today. The Mets leadoff batter was hit by a pitch twice in one inning. This tied him with 8 other players in major league history including Frank Thomas who did with the Mets almost 63 years to the day (4/29/1962).

Uncanny

Last year, Griffin Canning was 6-13 with a 5.19 ERA while pitching for the Los Angeles Angels. After today's game, he is now 4-1 with a 2.61 on the season, his first with the Mets. Over his last 3 starts, he has allowed just 2 runs in 16 innings (1.12 ERA), while walking 6 and striking out 16.

The Return of the Mac

Jeff McNeil had a big day of his own. The Mets multi-use fielder had as many RBIs as he did positions today: three. Switching from center field to right field to second base didn't throw his game off, as he hit a sacrifice fly (in a 10-pitch at-bat), a run-scoring ground out, a triple, and a solo home run, giving him 2 hits, 3 RBIs and 1 run scored on the successful afternoon.