“They’ve got lefties over there that they will use at any time, and we’ve got Wilmer who can come off the bench maybe in a big situation that he wouldn’t normally be in if he was in the lineup”.
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Flores hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and NY rallied past the Washington Nationals 9-7 on Thursday night in the opener of a pivotal four-game series.
“We fought back, they fought back”.
“I always want to go into the All-Star break hot and come out hot”, Nationals manager Dusty Baker told reporters Wednesday.
Murphy hit a solo homer off Antonio Bastardo in the seventh to cut the Mets’ lead to one.
“I feel like it changes from day to day, from series to series and in this case, from inning to inning”, he added. “Any young player and young pitcher”, Baker said.
Reyes, Travis d’Arnaud and Asdrubal Cabrera also went deep for NY in a slugfest that featured eight home runs – most in the eight-year history of Citi Field.
Curtis Granderson, who went 3-for-3 and was on base five times Thursday night, scored on Yoenis Cespedes’ double in the third and on Neil Walker’s single in the seventh.
The second game of the four-game series between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals will determine whether the Mets have a chance of catching the Nationals atop the National League East by the All-Star break. The Nationals swept three games from the Mets at home last week to open a six-game lead.
Daniel Murphy homered and drove in three runs, his latest big performance against the Mets since the defending NL champions let him leave as a free agent in the offseason.
Perhaps even more important than Harper’s three-run blast was Ryan Zimmerman’s two-run homer later in the game, which gave the Nationals key insurance runs.
That put Giolito in good position to earn his first career win, but the 21-year-old right-hander faded fast.
The Mets offense picked up a shaky Bartolo Colon, who surrendered six runs on 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. Both his major league outings have come against the Mets. “Probably a heck of a game to watch, but a awful game to lose”, Baker said. “It got away from me”. Familia then struck out Harper to end the game and pick up his 31st save of the year.
Perez went 2 for 2 at the plate for the Nationals, his first hits since 2010 and his first multiple hit game since 2007, both of which occurred as members of the Mets.
Hansel Robles (W, 3-3) pitched an inning and a third of scoreless relief to pick up the win for the Mets. Wilson Ramos delivered an RBI single two batters later to extend the lead to 6-4.The Mets took their first lead in the bottom of the inning when Cabrera and Brandon Nimmo singled ahead of a one-out, three-run homer by Flores.NOTES: Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said RHP Matt Harvey has symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome.
The Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1, the St. Louis Cardinals got the better of the Pittsburgh Pirates by the same scoreline, and the New York Yankees edged the Cleveland Indians 5-4. “On the other hand, my real job is to get the hitters out and I failed to do that”, Perez said through a translator.
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Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper (34) celebrates with his teammates after a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Nationals Park, Wednesday, July 6, 2016, in Washington.
