The Mets exploded for eight runs in the fifth inning of the second game and while the Nats made it a little more stressful than Mets fans would have preferred, the Mets hung on for an 8-2 win and a split of the two games played Sunday in D.C.
The Mets sent 12 men to the plate, which opened with two of their struggling players getting hits. Starling Marte started things off with a single and Mark Canha drove him home with an RBI double. Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor also contributed RBI singles. Brett Baty had a bases loaded walk and the scoring continued with RBI hits from Marte and Canha.
The runs were a sight for sore eyes. So, too, was the pitching by Max Scherzer, who hasn’t pitched much in the last month due to various reasons, the latest being neck spasms. But Scherzer shook off the rust to give the club five innings and he departed with an 8-1 lead.
In the opener, the completion of a suspended game from Saturday, the Mets twice tied the game, only to fall behind again. They produced 11 hits but were only able to push two runs across.
With wins in two of the first three games in the wrap-around four-game set, the Mets look to win the series in the finale Monday afternoon. David Peterson gets another shot at redemption in the game slated for a 4:05 start.
Fingers crossed for 5 innings out of an unreliable Peterson and the continuation of some hitting by this team. Another nice job by the pen and did you see that Perez went 4-4 in the opener? With Narvaez’ return at some point, does that performance signal the pending departure of Nido. Nido only has 6 hits on the season so I hope so.