Mets battle back but fall to Nationals 6-4

The New York Mets fell to the Washington Nationals 6-4 on Thursday afternoon. The Mets have now lost four of their last six games in Grapefruit League play.

Jacob deGrom started for the Mets and was charged with two earned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out four batters in three innings of work. He struggled a bit in the first but responded with a quick 1-2-3 second inning. After striking out Trea Turner to start the third, he allowed a solo home run to Adam Eaton but recovered to retire Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto to complete his afternoon of work.

After falling behind 3-0, the Mets clawed their way back with one run in the sixth and three in the seventh. The Mets strung together four hits in the seventh, including run-scoring singles from Michael Conforto and Tomas Nido to tie the game. Pete Alonso added a single, but Davis struck out to end the inning.

Daniel Zamora got into trouble in the eighth and was unable to finish the inning. Zamora allowed two runs on three hits and two walks before being replaced by Tim Peterson, who was able to get Brandon Snyder to pop up end the inning. The Mets loaded the bases in the ninth, but Andres Gimenez grounded out to end the game.

Some more notes from today’s game:

• The Mets’ bats couldn’t do much against Stephen Strasburg, as they picked up just one single against the Nationals’ right-hander in four innings. Strasburg struck out five batters on the afternoon.
• Tim Tebow got the Mets on the board in the sixth with a two-out, run-scoring single with the bases loaded. J.D. Davis was thrown out at third, which prevented Nido from crossing the plate with the second run.
• Brandon Nimmo started in left field for the first time this spring and picked up one single in three at-bats. He also reached base on a strikeout in the first inning.
• Alonso finished with two hits in five at-bats on the afternoon, including his ninth-inning double. Alonso is hitting .409 with a 1.276 OPS during spring training.
• Arquimedes Caminero allowed another run while walking two in one inning of work. In 3.1 Grapefruit League innings, Caminero has allowed seven runs (six earned), which has resulted in a 16.20 ERA.

Full box score: MLB.com