Mets vs. Nationals Recap: Capital depreciation

Trea Turner led off the game with a home run—the fifth homer the Mets have allowed in the first inning this week, the third leading off the game—and New York was left playing catch-up all game, never getting closer than two runs, before ultimately falling to the Nationals 7-4.

The Mets had a chance to get that first inning run back in the bottom of the inning. Yoenis Cespedes and Jay Bruce hit back-to-back singles with one out, but a Wilmer Flores double play squashed that rally.

By the time this three batter history repeated itself in the fourth—this time with none out, allowing the Mets’ first run to score—Washington had plated single runs in each of the first four innings, leaving the Mets behind 4-1 through four.

The Mets continued to battle Stephen Strasburg, putting together a number of solid at-bats and ultimately getting Strasburg lifted after 5.1 innings and 106 pitches. Getting into the Nats' struggling bullpen seemed to augur well, until one remembered that the Met bullpen has been less than stellar itself so far this year.

Indeed, every time the Mets inched closer, the Nationals would pad their lead. A sixth inning Wilmer Flores sacrifice fly made the score 4-2, but an Adam Lind two-run homer off Paul Sewald in the top of the eighth pushed the Mets' deficit back to four.

After a Cespedes homer and a Jose Reyes RBI single in the bottom of the frame made it 6-4, the Nats answered back off for one of Addison Reed in the top of the ninth on an Anthony Rendon RBI double.

The Mets got one on in front of Yoenis Cespedes in the bottom of the ninth, but Cespedes—4-4 until that point—grounded into a game-ending double play—the fourth and final rally-killer of the day for them.

With the loss, the Mets fell to 30-37, tied for third in the NL East, 11.5 games behind Washington. The Mets look to avoid the embarrassment of a sweep tomorrow, as it looks more and more as if pride is what they'll be playing for the remainder of 2017.

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Win Probability Added

www.fangraphs.com

What’s WPA?

Big winners: Jay Bruce, +21.3% WPA, Jose Reyes, +19.9% WPA, Yoenis Cespedes, +10.2 WPA
Big losers: Rene Rivera, -20.9% WPA, Wilmer Flores, -20.5 WPA, T.J. Rivera, -17.3 WPA, Seth Lugo, -16.4% WPA
The aw3s0mest play: Jay Bruce singled to right, advancing Yoenis Cespedes to third, +11.5%
The sux0rest play: T. J Rivera grounded into a double play to end the sixth inning, -13.6%
Total pitcher WPA: 27.5 WPA-
Total batter WPA: 22.5 WPA-
GWRBI!: Adam Lind