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.