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Final Score: Nationals 4, Mets 3—Eliminated

The Mets were unable to win with their ace on the mound and were officially eliminated from playoff contention in the first game of today’s doubleheader.

By Allison McCague
MLB: Game One-New York Mets at Washington Nationals Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

It was a close game as expected in the first game of a seven-inning doubleheader at Nationals Park in the matchup between Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. Neither pitcher was at his most dominant, but in the end the Nationals came out on top. Both pitchers were victim of the long ball. The Mets went ahead 2-0 on a home run by Wilson Ramos in the third inning and the Nationals answered in the bottom of the frame with solo home run by Andrew Stevenson.

Amed Rosario hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth to extend the Mets’ lead to 3-1, but the tide started to shift in the bottom of the fourth, as deGrom had to throw 29 pitches under duress to get through the inning. With two outs, he surrendered two straight hits and then threw a wild pitch to force in a run and make the score 3-2. He then walked a batter before finally striking out Josh Harrison—his tenth strikeout—to end the inning with a lead still in tact.

However, disaster struck again in the fifth inning when Dominic Smith ran face-first into the wall on a carrying fly ball off the bat of Stevenson. With Smith unable to get up, Stevenson rounded the bases for an inside the park home run to tie the game at three runs apiece. Somehow, Smith remained in the game, and deGrom was on fumes by the end of the inning, but he made it through with 113 pitches in total—a season high.

In the top of the sixth, Robinson Cano missed a home run by inches, which turned out to be consequential because the Mets were unable to score, despite having Scherzer on his heels. Scherzer ended his day with two straight strikeouts to escape the jam and preserve the tie. In the bottom of the inning, Miguel Castro walked a batter and gave up a hit before recording an out. The Mets turned to Edwin Diaz with first and third and one out and he gave up a go-ahead RBI hit to Josh Harrison to seal the Mets’ fate. The Mets are now mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

  1. MetsFan4Decades: 120
  2. BK_Machetero3191: 46
  3. kefmet: 38
  4. feslenraster: 37
  5. LaRomaBella: 36
  6. stickguy: 33
  7. deegie: 22
  8. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 22
  9. John Oldnrude: 17
  10. Mettle: 14

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

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