Murphy’s production against the Mets may end up being historic considering he still has six games remaining in September against his former employer.
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On Sunday, Murphy hit a two-run shot off Steven Matz in the first inning – his third homer of the series and fourth in five games against the Mets.
“We’re still in a race”, manager Terry Collins said.
Remember Daniel Murphy? Mets’ fans surely do.
Gonzalez held the depleted NY lineup in check for 5 2/3 innings before handing things off to none other than Tanner Roark, who in his first relief appearance of the season tossed another 2 1/3 innings of ideal ball to help lead the Nationals to a 3-2 win at Citi Field. “The state of the team is we’re banged up”. We’ve been in this situation one year ago, where things looked bleak, and we ended up playing in the World Series.
Alderson did it, at the end of the trading deadline last July, with the big acquisition of Cespedes who was instrumental in the unexpected October run to the World Series.
Reyes, who just joined the Mets on Tuesday, expressed some disappointment about the timing of the All-Star break. Jordy Mercer, Andrew McCutchen and Sean Rodriguez also homered for the Pirates, who have won nine of 10 and 12 of their last 15. “You know, six games up in the division, I think that puts us at 18 games over.500 [54-36]. He has such a great feel for the strike zone and when he gets his pitch, he hits it, and he is hitting these guys pretty good”.
I think he was really meticulous about how he went about it.
Murphy lined a two-run drive off the facing off the upper deck in the first inning. He’s dominated the Mets all season long, drilling seven home runs with 21 RBIs.
If the pitching falls, then the Mets will find it very hard to win games and they may return back to the unsuccessful Mets that played from 2007-2014.
The Nationals tied a franchise record with their 54th win before the All-Star break, matching the 1994 Montreal Expos. James Loney (first base) and Jose Reyes (third base) quickly became mainstays in the lineup, with Reyes providing an element of speed NY previously lacked. His next time up, he took three wild swings and struck out.
Fortunately for Gonzalez, he will be pitching in a place he has enjoyed plenty of success.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances.
Steven Matz (7-5) fell to 0-4 in his last eight starts.
Scherzer circled the bases on Ben Revere’s ground-ball triple down the first base line and Murphy later followed with an RBI single.
Werth fills up the box score: Two of the Nationals’ three runs on Sunday were scored by Jayson Werth, who reached three times with a single and two walks. They moved to 9-4 against the Mets this year, which tops their win total in the 2015 head-to-head series.
“Every day, you come in, you write a lineup, and it changes”, Collins said.
After walking Alejando De Aza with two outs in the seventh, Baker considered taking out Scherzer. The pitcher stayed in and got Travis d’Arnaud on a liner to left. Murphy once again led the Nationals to a victory over the Mets with a two-run homer, his seventh this season against the Mets alone. And with Sunday’s he is now 126-for-146 in his career, which gives him the third-best steal percentage (86.3) of all-time.
“It’s always a surprise for me when I hit a homer, because I don’t hit too many”, Reyes said. The Dodgers and Padres later visit Washington.
Thanks to fortified depth, the Mets have reason to believe they’ll field a more reliable offense in the second half.
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After Cespedes left Friday’s game, Noah Syndergaard departed in the fifth with “arm fatigue”.
