Final Score: Nationals 6, Mets 5 — Brooms fall apart late

The Mets lost the final game of their weekend series with the Nationals on Sunday evening, even though they had a lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning.

With two runs in the first on singles by Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda and another run in the second on Matt den Dekker's first major league home run, the Mets got off to a great start.

Jon Niese gave up a run in the bottom of the second, though, and another in the fourth. A Murphy single scored the Mets' fourth run, and Duda drove in one more in the seventh. Unfortunately, Niese had left the game with a leg cramp after five-and-two-thirds innings, and the Mets' bullpen blew the game.

Scott Atchison, Scott Rice, and Gonzalez Germen combined to allow four runs between the seventh and eighth. The Mets did not mount a comeback against Rafael Soriano in the ninth.

Game Thread Roll Call

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