Mets vs. Nationals Recap: Yoenis Cespedes does it again, Mets sweep Nationals

Yoenis Cespedes, man. Yoesnis Cespedes. The Mets swept the Nationals on Wednesday night in Washington and increased their lead in the National League East to seven games. Cespedes wasn’t the only player who took part in the festivities, but he was, of course, the one who hit to go-ahead and eventual game-winning home run in the eighth inning of the game.

In his time with the Mets, which started just after the trade deadline, Cespedes has been nothing short of spectacular. In 36 games and 168 plate appearances with the team, the outfielder has hit 14 home runs. If he were to play 162 games at that level, he’d hit 63 home runs. In 2015. Over the course of a full season, that would be a very difficult pace to maintain, but it puts his performance with the Mets so far in perspective.

Cespedes wasn’t the only bright spot for the Mets in the game. Travis d’Arnaud hit a solo home run against the Stephen Strasburg, who otherwise dominated the Mets’ lineup until the eighth inning, when pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson took him very deep to right field to tie the game. And the Mets wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do any of that if Jacob deGrom hadn’t turned in a pretty good start.

It’s September 10, and the Mets are up seven games on the Nationals in the division. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll make the playoffs, but it makes it incredibly likely. These are enjoyable times.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Federal Baseball GameThread

Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Yoenis Cespedes, +33.5% WPA, Kelly Johnson, +25.2% WPA, Travis d’Arnaud, +10.8% WPA
Big losers: none
Teh aw3s0mest play: Yoenis Cespedes hits a two-run, go-ahead home run in the eighth, +36.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Bryce Harper hits a solo home run in the first, -11.4% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +12.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: +37.4% WPA
GWRBI!: Yoenis Cespedes