Postgame analysis of the Nats’ 3-2 win over the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.
Advertisement
That will be an extremely important stretch of games for the Mets, as the series after the Phillies will be against teams they will battle for a playoff spot with throughout the summer.
July 10, 2016The New York Mets lost three out of four at home to the Washington Nationals heading into the All-Star break, which proves they aren’t at Washington’s level just yet.
Reyes crushed a pair of solo home runs off left-hander Gio Gonzalez in his first two at-bats of the day, accounting for the Mets’ entire offensive output in their first-half finale. He’s hitting mistake pitches and he’s hitting really good pitches.
After scoring nine runs and totaling 15 hits in the series opener, the Mets were only able to scratch out four runs and 13 hits the next three games. The other run was on a Wilson Ramos RBI double in the third inning.
Gio Gonzalez was also a tad wild with four walks of his own, but he managed 5 2/3 frames with two runs allowed and four hits. Jose Reyes drew a leadoff walk, Curtis Granderson followed with a single and both runners advanced on left fielder Jayson Werth’s throwing error back to the infield.
With the Nationals leading 3-2 with two outs in the sixth, manager Dusty Baker turned to an unfamiliar face out of his bullpen: Roark.
Another win today would tie the mark for the all-time franchise history with the Montreal Expos, who won 54 in the first half of the 1994 campaign. The result was two consecutive lackluster losses to the Nationals, complete with poor pitching performances and a return to the zombie like offense the Mets have displayed for most of the season. “What he did in the postseason previous year, with some of the changes he made, he obviously said, ‘This works and I’m sticking with it.’ And he has probably even refined it a little bit more”. The Nats and Mets will not meet again until September 2 in NY.
How much longer can Murphy hit this way? Because right now, the Nationals are the better team just like it was last season at the same time. Murphy absolutely tattooed the Mets over the past four days, homering three times and driving in 10 runs to help the Nationals pick up a crucial series victory. He is now batting. 423 (22-of-52) with hits in all 13 games he’s played against the Mets this year. Murphy enters the All-Star break with a. 348 batting average, best in the majors. His fastball was also slightly faster than normal, hitting 93 and 94 on occasion. We’re banged up. It’s why we’re taking the four days [of the All-Star break] and, hopefully recuperate.
Matz is one of several NY pitchers struggling of late and is 0-3 in his last seven outings.
At home in Citi Field, Matz was 3-2 with a 3.30 ERA in eight starts this season and (5-2) with a 3.00 ERA in 10 starts in NY in his career. I feel like I’m starting to get in the groove….
Murphy started at first base rather than second Sunday, which had absolutely no impact on his concentration and production at the plate.
Murphy moved closer to the plate this season, and that has allowed him to take more impactful swings against outer-half pitches. Reyes’ liner to left in the third gave him his eighth career multihomer game and first since 2011.
Advertisement
New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) winds up during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, July 10, 2016, in New York. The Nationals haven’t announced who will start that game, but with a chance to reset their rotation, it will likely be Max Scherzer or Stephen Strasburg, depending on if Scherzer appears in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
