The Mets lose a tough one in Washington

The New York Mets were defeated by the Washington Nationals by the score of 3-2 on Sunday afternoon. Jon Niese made the start and pitched pretty well but he didn’t go deep into the game. The bullpen did a good job except for Bobby Parnell who took the loss in the game. The Mets offense pretty much came from three players and it wasn’t good enough. The Mets have struggled with Washington in recent years and this weekend was no different.
Niese pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and two runs, he didn’t walk a batter and struck out six. Ryota Igarashi pitched 2/3 of an inning and struck out both guys he faced, Pedro Beato pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up one hit and one walk, he also struck out a batter and Tim Byrdak struck out the only batter that he faced. Parnell took the loss dropping his record to 3-3. He pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run.

Jose Reyes had two hits, Willie Harris had a hit and Daniel Murphy had two hits. David Wright had a hit, Scott Hairston had two hits and two RBI and Niese had a walk. Hairston had a homerun. The Mets were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Reyes and Harris were both caught stealing.

In the bottom of the sixth the first runs were scored by the Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman had an RBI double and Michael Morse had an RBI double. In the seventh inning Hairston hit a solo homerun to bring the Mets within one run. The score was 2-1 Mets and Hairston homered again in the ninth to tie the game at two. Ian Desmond had an RBI single in the ninth to make the Nationals walk off winners 3-2.

The Mets lost two out of three in the series. The Mets won on Friday night and then have lost two straight on Saturday and Sunday. The Mets record is 55-53 and the Nationals are 51-56. The Mets had a really good road trip but they would of liked to end it with a win. The Mets did not make any more deals at the deadline and the team they have is the one that will finish the season. They are 7 ½ games out of a playoff spot and manager Terry Collins planned on addressing the team on the flight home. The Mets will begin a homestand on Monday night against the Florida Marlins. They will also take on the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres. It is a big ten game homestand for them especially the three against the Braves who lead the wild card chase.