New York Mets battle back but then lose on a walk-off to the Nationals

The New York Mets were defeated by the Washington Nationals on Monday night.  The game took place at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. and the final score was 3-2.  Steven Matz started for the Mets and pitched well.  Jose Reyes had two hits to lead the offense. 

Matz pitched seven innings giving up four hits and no runs.  He walked two and struck out four.  Jerry Blevins pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two runs with two walks, Paul Sewald lost his third game of the season pitching an inning and giving up a run and a walk and Josh Edgin pitched 1/3 of an inning walking a batter.  Fernando Salas pitched to one batter and gave up a hit. 

Stephen Strasburg started for the Nationals and pitched seven innings giving up two hits and no runs with three walks and six strikeouts.  Matt Grace pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a walk, Joe Blanton pitched to one batter and retired them and Sammy Solis pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout.  Matt Albers blew his third save of the season and won his fourth game of the season.  He pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run. 

Reyes had two hits, Asdrubal Cabrera drew two walks and Yoenis Cespedes had a hit.  T.J. Rivera had a hit and drew a walk, Lucas Duda drew a walk and Curtis Granderson had a hit and two RBI.  Brandon Nimmo had a hit, Granderson hit a homerun and the Mets were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Reyes was caught stealing and Reyes committed an error. 

Brian Goodwin had a hit, Ryan Raburn had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Michael Taylor had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk.  Bryce Harper had a hit and drew a walk, Anthony Rendon had a hit and Matt Wieters drew a walk.  Wilmer Difo had a hit and drew a walk, Stephen Drew drew a walk and Taylor hit a homerun.  The Nationals were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.  Difo had a stolen base and Goodwin had an outfield assist. 

In the eighth Taylor hit a two-run homerun to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.  In the ninth Granderson hit a two-run homerun to tie the game at two.  In the bottom of the ninth Raburn hit a RBI single which was a walk-off hit and a 3-2 victory. 

The New York Mets take the series in Washington behind a strong Matt Harvey

The New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals by the score of 6-3 on Thursday afternoon.  The game took place at Nationals Park in Washington D.C.  Harvey started and pitched great, the bullpen wasn't as good.  David Wright, Michael Cuddyer and Travis d'Arnaud led the offense with two hits each. 

Harvey pitched six innings giving up four hits and no runs.  He walked one and struck out nine.  Harvey earned his first win of the season.  Alex Torres pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two runs and two walks with a strikeout, Buddy Carlyle pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and Carlos Torres pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.  Jeurys Famila pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout. 

Stephen Strasburg pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up nine hits and six runs with three of them being earned.  He walked three and struck out five and took his first loss of the season.  Xavier Cedeno pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out both guys, Tanner Roark pitched two innings giving up a hit and Aaron Barrett pitched an inning with two strikeouts. 

Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew two walks, Wright had two hits and two RBI and Lucas Duda drew a walk.  Cuddyer had two hits and an RBI, Daniel Murphy had a hit and an RBI and Juan Lagares had a hit.  d'Arnaud had two hits and two RBI, Wilmer Flores had a hit and the Mets were 4-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Flores committed an error. 

Michael Taylor had two hits and two RBI, Yunel Escobar had a hit and drew a walk and Ian Desmond had two hits and drew a walk.  Dan Uggla had a hit, Lobaton drew a walk and Reed Johnson had a hit and an RBI.  Taylor hit a double and Desmond hit two doubles and the Nationals were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Escobar was caught stealing and Desmond committed an error. 

In the third Cuddyer hit an RBI single to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.  Murphy hit an RBI single and d'Arnaud hit a two run single to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.  In the sixth Wright hit a two run single to make it a 6-0 game.  In the bottom of the seventh Taylor hit a two run double to cut the lead to 6-2.  In the ninth Johnson hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-3 and that was the final score. 

The Mets won two out of three to take the opening series and will now head to Atlanta to take on the Braves in a three game weekend series before returning to New York for the home opener on Monday.   

New York Mets at Washington Nationals series preview

The New York Mets will open their 2015 season on Monday afternoon in Washington D.C. against the Washington Nationals.  Bartolo Colon the veteran starter will get it started against Max Scherzer.  The Nationals are arguably the best team in baseball and have the majors best rotation.  The Mets have their own very good rotation with a lot of youth and a lot of guys on their way up.  They are hoping their hitting will add some help to a good rotation and that their bullpen has gotten better with some youth in it and some lefty relievers that were added late in spring training. 

The Mets finalized their 25 man roster on Saturday.  They demoted Eric Campbell and will carry just four bench players and eight relievers.  Buddy Carlyle is on the team and Vic Black is going to the disabled list.  Daniel Murphy will not go on the DL and Danny Muno and Matt Reynolds were both sent to AAA.  The Mets rotation lost Zach Wheeler to Tommy John surgery but will get Matt Harvey their ace back.  They will also have Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and Jacob deGrom.  The lineup will have David Wright, Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson returning along with Daniel Murphy and Juan Lagares who they are hoping will continue to improve offensively.  Michael Cuddyer is the big free agent addition to help the lineup. 

The Nationals have an unbelievable rotation consisting of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Scherzer, Doug Fister and Jordan Zimmerman.  They have some pop in their lineup and their one weakness will be their bullpen.  Ryan Zimmerman will move to first base, Denard Span, Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth are their big players. 

The Mets will be off on Tuesday and then continue their series Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Here are the pitching matchups.

Monday-Scherzer vs. Colon

Wednesday-Zimmerman vs. deGrom

Thursday-Strasburg vs. Harvey

The New York Mets blow a lead and lose to the Washington Nationals

The New York Mets were defeated by the Washington Nationals on Monday afternoon.  It was

Opening Day of the 2014 baseball season.  The Mets lost to the Nationals by the final score of 9-7 at

Citi Field in Flushing, New York.  Dillon Gee pitched well, the bullpen was terrible.  Juan Lagares had

a couple of hits and David Wright had three hits to lead the offense. 

Gee pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up four hits and four runs with two walks and five strikeouts.  Carlos Torres walked the only batter he faced, Scott Rice walked the only batter he faced and Jose Valverde pitched 1 1/3 innings striking out three.  Bobby Parnell pitched an inning blowing his first save.  He gave up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout, Jeurys Familia pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a strikeout.  Familia took his first loss of the season.  John Lannan pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two runs with a walk. 

Stephen Strasburg started for the Nationals and pitched six innings giving up five hits and four runs with two walks and ten strikeouts.  Drew Storen pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts, Tyler Clippard pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout and Aaron Barrett picked up his first win of the season.  He pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.  Jerry Blevins pitched an inning giving up a hit and two runs with a walk and three strikeouts. 

Eric Young Jr. had an RBI, Lagares had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Wright had three hits and two RBI.  Andrew Brown had a hit and three RBI, Ike Davis drew a walk and Travis d'Arnaud drew a walk.  Ruben Tejada had a hit, Brown, Lagares and Wright each hit a homerun.  The Mets were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base.  d'Arnaud had a passed ball. 

Denard Span had two RBI for the Nationals.  Adam Laroche had two RBI and drew two walks, Anthony Rendon had two hits and four RBI.  LaRoche and Rendon each hit a homerun.  The Nationals were 3-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. 

In the bottom of the first Brown hit a three run homerun giving the Mets a 3-0 lead.  LaRoche hit a two run homerun in the second to cut the Mets lead to 3-2.  Young Jr. hit a sac fly in the second to make it a 4-2 game.  In the seventh Rendon hit an RBI double to cut the lead to 4-3.  Span walked to tie the game at four.  In the eighth Lagares hit a solo homerun to give the Mets a 5-4 lead.  In the ninth Span hit an RBI double to tie the game at five.  In the tenth inning Ian Desmond hit a sacrifice fly and Rendon hit a three run homerun to give the Nationals a 9-5 lead.  The Mets would try to come back in the bottom of the tenth.  Wright hit a two run homerun to cut the lead to 9-7 but that would be the final score of the game. 

The Mets are 0-1 on the season and the Nationals 1-0.  The two teams will play game two of the their three game series on Wednesday night. 

 

The New York Mets and Washington Nationals tie 4-4

The New York Mets and Washington Nationals played to a 4-4 tie on Thursday night in ten innings. The game was played at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida. The Mets pitching was ok in the game and Jordany Valdespin, Colin Cowgill and Travis D’arnaud each had two hits. 
Rafael Montero pitched two innings giving up three hits and a run, Brandon Lyon pitched an inning giving up a run with a walk and a strikeout and Josh Edgin pitched two innings giving up two hits and an an unearned run. He struck out two, Elvin Ramirez pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with two walks and a strikeout, Scott Rice pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up three hits and striking out two and Jeremy Hefner pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk with three strikeouts.

Stephen Strasburg pitched three innings for the Nationals. He gave up three hits and a run with two walks and six strikeouts. Zach Duke pitched two innings giving up three hits and an unearned run with a couple of strikeouts, Yunesky Maya pitched two innings giving up three hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts and Patrick McCoy pitched a perfect inning. Ryan Mattheus pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts.

Valdespin had two hits, Cowgill had two hits and Mike Baxter had an RBI and drew a walk. Matthew den Dekker had a hit, d’Arnaud had two hits and Landon Powell drew a walk. Omar Quintanilla had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Brian Bixler had a hit and an RBI and Brandon Hicks drew a walk. Quintanilla hit a double, the Mets were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. den Dekker had a stolen base and Valdespin was caught stealing. Bixler, Puello and Tovar all committed an error.

Denard Span had a hit and drew a walk, Eury Perez had a hit and Chris Snyder had a hit. Jayson Werth had an RBI, Corey Brown had a hit and Chris Marrero had a hit and drew a walk. Ian Desmond had a hit, Zach Walters had a hit and Danny Espinosa had a hit and drew a walk. Tyler Moore had two hits, Anthony Rendon had a hit and a couple of RBI. Span, Espinosa, Rendon and Marrero each hit a double. The Nationals were 3-18 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. Span had two stolen bases and Desmond committed an error.

Baxter hit a sacrifice fly in the first to make it 1-0 Mets. Rendon hit an RBI double to tie the game at one in the second inning. In the third Werth had an RBI groundout to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead, the Mets tied the game in the fourth inning and then the Nationals took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Quintanilla hit an RBI double and Rendon grounded out scoring a run. Bixler hit an RBI single in the sixth and Matt Skole had an RBI walk. A wild pitch scored the fourth and final run of the game in the seventh for the Mets.

The Mets and Nationals are both 1-3 in the spring. The Mets will host the Detroit Tigers on Friday afternoon and Washington will play at Atlanta on Friday evening.

The New York Mets defeat the Washington Nationals 5-3 in Port St. Lucie

The New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals by the score of 5-3 on Saturday afternoon in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Zach Wheeler pitched a very impressive two innings for the Mets, Ruben Tejada hit a homerun and Marlon Byrd had a couple of hits. 
Shaun Marcum started for the Mets and pitched two innings giving up four hits and three runs, Wheeler pitched two scoreless giving up a hit and a walk and striking out two and Cory Mazzoni got the win pitching two scoreless giving up a hit and striking out three. Darin Gorski pitched two innings giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout and Bobby Parnell picked up the save pitching an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Stephen Strasburg started for the Nationals and pitched two inning giving up three hits and two runs with a strikeout, Drew Stammen pitched two innings giving up three hits and a run with a strikeout and Fernando Abad pitched an inning giving up two walks and striking out one. Bill Bray took the loss pitching an inning giving up three hits and two runs with one of them being earned with a walk and a strikeout. Erik Davis pitched a scoreless inning giving up a walk and striking out two and Cole Kimball pitched a scoreless inning giving up a walk.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a hit, Colin Cowgill had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and also scored from second on a groundout. Tejada had a hit and two RBI, Ike Davis drew a walk and Byrd had two hits. Justin Turner had a hit and Jordany Valdespin had a hit and an RBI. Byrd and Cowgill each hit a double and Tejada hit a homerun. The Mets were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Bixler, Brown and Hicks each made a fielding error and Buck had a passed ball.

Steve Lombardozzi drew a walk, Bryce Harper had a hit and Ian Desmond had a hit. Chris Marrero had a hit and an RBI, Chris Snyder had two hits and two RBI and Micah Owings had a hit. Marrero hit a double and Snyder hit a homerun. The Nationals were 1-12 with runners in scoring position and they left ten men on base. Perez and Rhymes each had a stolen base. Tracey and Owings each committed an error.

Tejada hit a two run homerun in the first to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. The Nationals took a 3-2 lead in the second inning. Marrero hit an RBI double and Snyder hit a two run homerun. Valdespin hit an RBI single in the fourth inning to tie the game at three. In the sixth inning the Mets scored two runs to take a 5-3 lead and that is how the game would end up. Cowgill hit an RBI double and Omar Quintanilla reached on an error scoring the final run of the game.

The Mets are 1-0 in the grapefruit league and the Nationals are 0-1. The Mets will play at the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon and the Nationals will remain home to take on the Miami Marlins.

The Mets get swept by the Nationals

The New York Mets were defeated by the Washington Nationals by the score of 5-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Jeremy Hefner started for the Mets and pitched ok and the bullpen did ok. The Mets offense only managed four hits. Stephen Strasburg started for the Nationals and was outstanding. The Nationals bullpen was also good. Danny Espinosa led the Nationals offense. 
Hefner lost his fourth game of the season, he is now 1-4. He pitched six innings giving up six hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He walked two and struck out seven. Tim Byrdak pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two runs with a walk, Jon Rauch faced one batter and retired him and Elvin Ramirez pitched two innings giving up a walk and striking out one. Strasburg won his 11^th game of the season pitching seven innings giving up four hits and a run. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out 11. Henry Rodriguez didn’t retire a batter and gave up a run and two walks, Craig Stammen pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a walk and Sean Burnett retired the only batter that he faced. Drew Storen retired the only batter that he faced and Tyler Clippard saved his 18^th game of the season pitching an inning and striking out one.

Jordany Valdespin had a hit and an RBI, Ike Davis had a hit and an RBI and Daniel Murphy had a hit. Josh Thole had a hit and drew a walk, Andres Torres drew a walk and Scott Hairston drew a walk. Thole had a double, Davis hit a homerun. The Mets were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Murphy and Thole each committed an error.

Steve Lombardozzi had a hit, Bryce Harper had a hit and drew a walk and Adam LaRoche had a hit and had two RBI. Michael Morse had a hit and an RBI, Espinosa had two hits and an RBI and Roger Bernadina had a hit and drew a walk. Sandy Leon drew two walks, Harper and Espinosa each hit a double. Morse, Espinosa and LaRoche each hit a homerun. The Nationals were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base.

Morse and Espinosa hit back-to-back homeruns in the second to make it 2-0 Nationals. In the bottom of the second Davis hit a solo homerun to cut the lead to 2-1 Nationals. In the fourth Leon reached on a fielders choice and a run scored making it a 3-1 game. LaRoche hit a two run homerun in the seventh to make it 5-1. Those were the final runs that the Nationals would score. The Mets added a run in the eighth on a Valdespin ground out. The final score was 5-2 Nationals.

The Mets have won one game since the All Star Break. The Nationals swept the three game series and improved their record to 58-39. The Mets record dropped to 47-51.

Mets lose second in a row and series to the Washington Nationals

The New York Mets lost to the Washington Nationals by the score of 4-0 this afternoon. Johan Santana started and pitched well but once again only lasted five innings. Stephen Strasburg started for the Nationals and pitched even better for six innings. The Mets offense did nothing, managing only three hits. Ian Desmond and Xavier Nady each had two hits. 
Santana pitched five innings, five hits and one run with three walks and eight strikeouts. Manny Acosta pitched 1 1/3 innings with one hit and one run with three walks, Ramon Ramirez pitched an inning with two hits and one run with two walks and a strikeout. Jon Rauch faced two hitters and got both of them out, Miguel Batista had a hit, run and drew a walk and Tim Byrdak pitched an inning walking one and struck out one. Stasburg got the win and pitched six innings giving up two hits and no runs with three walks and nine strikeouts. The bullpen pitched three innings giving up a walk and a hit.

Ruben Tejada had a hit, Daniel Murphy had a hit and drew a walk and Lucas Duda drew a walk. Ike Davis had a hit, Josh Thole drew a walk and Kirk Nieuwenhuis drew a walk. The Mets were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Thole had a passed ball.

Desmond for the Nationals had two hits, Danny Espinosa had a hit and drew two walks and Ryan Zimmerman had a hit and drew a walk. Jayson Werth had a hit and drew a walk, Mark DeRosa had a hit, RBI and drew three walks and Adam LaRoche drew a walk. Xavier Nady had two hits, Jesus Flores had a hit, RBI and drew two walks. Chad Tracy had an RBI, Desmond had a double and the Nationals were 1-14 with runners in scoring position. They left 14 men on base, Nady had a stolen base. Espinosa had a throwing error.

DeRosa and Nady singled, they had runners on second and third on a throwing error. Flores walked and then a wild pitch made it 1-0 Nationals. Desmond doubled, Espinosa walked and Zimmerman walked and DeRosa walked for an RBI. It was 2-0 Nationals. Tracy grounded out to score another run and make it 3-0 Nationals. The final run of the game came in the ninth and Flores walked to make it 4-0.
The Mets lost the three game series, only winning one game. They finished 4-2 overall on the six game homestand. They have the day off tomorrow and then they play the Philadelphia Phillies three games and then on to Atlanta to face the Braves for three games. The Mets hopefully won’t be without their star David Wright for too long.

Baseball News

It appears that the Minnesota Twins and Joe Mauer are close to getting a long term deal done. There were reports yesterday that he had signed a 10 yr extension, they proved to be false but they are talking and most believe it will get done. I would doubt he will get 10 yrs but maybe 7 or 8. I think if this does eventually happen which it looks like it will it is a good thing for baseball. I think these small market clubs need to keep guys like this and I don't think the Yankees and Red Sox should just be chomping at the bit to go to war against each other for his services. The Oakland Athletics and Cincinatti Reds were busy yesterday. The Reds signed veteran shortstop Orlando Cabrera. The Reds traded Willy Taveras and Adam Rosales to the A's for utility infielder Aaron Miles and a player to be named later. Orlando Hudson is expected to sign this week and the Washington Nationals appear to be the frontrunners. The Nationals have made some moves this offseason and appear to be getting better. They also have Stephen Strasburg and the #1 pick this year. They are headed in the right direction.