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Final Score: Mets 3, Nationals 1—Defense! Defense! Defense! It’s everywhere!

In a stunning turn of events, the Mets won a game on the back of a stellar outing from Rick Porcello and stunning defense.

By Vasilis Drimalitis
New York Mets v Washington Nationals Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images

For much of the season, solid starting pitching and good defense have alluded the New York Mets. That was, thankfully, not the case tonight, as the team got a hearty helping of both in a 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals that gave the club a much-needed win to close out their road trip before heading home.

The game began as a lop-sided pitching match-up between two former Cy Young winners and Tigers teammates. Max Scherzer took the hill for the Nats and slogged through a 27-pitch first while allowing a run on a Dominic Smith sacrifice fly. While the Mets threatened further, it was all they would get. However, that was the last we would see of Scherzer, who exited with an undisclosed injury after looking uncomfortable as we walked off the mound.

On the Mets’ end, Rick Porcello got the start and turned in his best performance in orange and blue. After coughing up the lead on a Juan Soto two-out, run-scoring double in the first, he settled down and kept Washington off the board for his final six frames. He threw a first-pitch strike to 19 of 25 batters he faced on the evening and generated ten ground ball outs. He became the first Mets starter to pitch into the seventh in 2020 and retired the last 10 batters he faced en route to picking up his 150th career win.

The game turned in the fourth, when the Mets went ahead for good when Luis Guillorme singled home J.D. Davis to give New York a 2-1 lead against Erik Fedde. In the bottom half of the frame, Soto led off with a single but he was erased while trying to go first-to-third on an Asdrubal Cabrera single by a terrific throw from right by Michael Conforto and an even better tag by Andres Gimenez. One batter later, Davis made a terrific diving stop at third to end the inning. The Mets added a run in the seventh on a Smith double, and Seth Lugo notched a six-out save to close it out.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

  1. MetsFan4Decades: 103
  2. stickguy: 86
  3. Knurk: 71
  4. StorkFan: 37
  5. feslenraster: 26
  6. AnneInFlushing: 23
  7. LouMonte7: 21
  8. Grand-Slam Single: 19
  9. Cory Braiterman: 19
  10. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 16

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