In a spring showdown of young pitchers, Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals definitely came out on top. Matt Harvey struggled mightily, allowing five runs in only one inning of work. He gave up seven hits, three of which were of the long-ball variety.

As a result, Justin Hampson, who was not scheduled to pitch in the game, threw two innings, and the results were nearly as poor. He walked four and allow four more runs to score. Frank Francisco, Bobby Parnell, Jeff Stevens, and Daniel Herrera pitched the remainder of the innings. Those innings were mostly quiet, but Acosta and Herrera did give up a run a piece. No big deal.

The Mets couldn't muster up a run in support of their beleaguered pitchers. The standout performers were Ruben Tejada and Vinny Rottino, each of whom had a pair of hits in the loss.

The Mets visit the Cardinals tomorrow at 1:05 pm, but the game will not be broadcast locally.

Nice job by astromets; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.