Oliver Perez and Blake Treinen combined to escape an eighth-inning jam, and Washington extended its NL East lead to four games over the Mets after dropping the opener of the four-game set Thursday.
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The Mets and Nationals will close out the first half Sunday with the finale of a four-game series at Citi Field. We’re giving him balls to hit.
“I think everybody I walked tonight scored”, Verrett said after the Mets fell five games behind Washington in the NL East. “You can’t let that happen”.
CUBS KEEP REELING: Josh Bell hit a grand slam in his second major-league at bat, one of four homers by the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 12-6 win over the Chicago Cubs.
As gaudy as his numbers are, Murphy said he’d rather talk about his team’s place in the standings than his spot in Baker’s pantheon. “The list is too many”. After the most recent one on June 22, Syndergaard acknowledged he was pitching through a small bone spur but expressed little concern about it. Neil Walker had a sacrifice fly in the first for the Mets and Alejandro De Aza reached base in all three plate appearances via two singles and a walk. 348 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs. 438 with six home runs and 19 RBI in 12 games against his former team. But I was happy that I was able to get us almost through the seventh inning.
“We’ve got to do a better job in situational hitting”, Collins said.
“I don’t even know what to say”.
The Mets are now 4-9 against the Nationals this season, with six of those losses coming in the last two weeks. “We’ve got to do a better job”. Scherzer walked leading off the third and scored on a triple by Ben Revere, who trotted home on Murphy’s one-out single.
LOHSE BACK IN MAJORS WITH RANGERS: Texas promoted well-traveled pitcher Kyle Lohse from Triple-A and gave him a start right away against the Twins in a game that was 5-3 in favor of Minnesota in the fourth inning. The lefty had lost seven of his previous eight decisions, but regained his touch in a ballpark where he’s now 8-1. Steven Matz takes the hill, and he’s 7-4 with a 3.34 ERA and 85 strikeouts this season. Matz later allowed an RBI single to Wilson Ramos in the third. The only thing I’m not going to be doing is playing the game.
Matz (7-5) was largely solid other than Murphy’s two-run shot. Murphy, who won National League Championship Series MVP honors with the Mets last season before signing a three-year deal with the Nationals in December, is batting. He managed to make at least one new fan, however after chasing down a popup that landed in foul territory, he pointed to a young person in the stands and tossed the souvenir that way. Mets OF Yoenis Cespedes, who exited after three innings Friday due to a right quad strain, did not play.
“Very disappointing end to the homestand, no question about it”, Collins said. The pitcher stayed in and got Travis d’Arnaud on a liner to left.
Nationals star Bryce Harper has played vs. every opposing team in the majors except Cleveland, but could see Indians pitcher Corey Kluber in the All-Star Game – in the next month, the Nats take on Cleveland four times.
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The offense once again deserved the blame for Sunday’s loss because it couldn’t solve Gio Gonzalez, who despite his proven track record at Citi Field entered the game with a 4.79 ERA. “Lined out to third”, he remembered. The Dodgers and Padres later visit Washington. Manager Terry Collins said Syndergaard probably will throw a side session upon arriving in Philadelphia, where the Mets begin a three-game series on Friday….
