Mets beat Nationals for second consecutive series sweep

Coming into Wednesday, the Mets had not lost since they started Thomas Szapucki against San Francisco. They swept the Phillies over the weekend and took the first two games against the Nationals. And they were looking to have some really strong momentum before they headed west to play three of the strongest teams in the league. Carlos Carrasco was looking to bounce back from his last start, during hwich he gave up 5 runs. But they were facing a rookie Washington starter, Evan Lee.

In the first inning, Carrasco looked good, further showing his first inning troubles to be a thing of the past. Providing an exception for his walk of Nelson Cruz, he got through the first cleanly, with a strikeout and two ground outs. In the bottom half, the Mets appeared to have similar luck at the start, with a long fly out for Brandon Nimmo in his first start since May 27 and a hard Starling Marte line out. But a Francisco Lindor single up the middle and a Pete Alonso hit-by-pitch led to a scoring situation for Canha right off the bat. But he wasn’t able to get anything done.

Carrasco’s second inning went similarly to the first. With the exception of a single from Maikel Franco, he had a quick and painless inning, with a lineout, strike out, and fly out. The Mets also decided to do an encore of the first inning. After two outs from J.D. Davis and Eduardo Escobar Escobar, Luis Guillorme drew a walk and Tomás Nido hit a single to put two on with two outs for Nimmo. But a quick Nimmo fly out to left ended the inning before any runs could score.

Carrasco ran into some trouble in the third. After two quick outs, he gave up three consecutive walks to Juan Soto, Nelson Cruz, and Josh Bell, throwing ten straight balls. But Carrasco gathered himself and struck Yadiel Hernández out looking. The bottom of the inning went pretty quietly. Aside from an Alonso walk, the Mets got three outs to keep the game scoreless on both sides.

The fourth inning was another troublesome inning for Carrasco. He found himself with runners on first and third with one out and the speedy Dee Strange-Gordon at the plate. But after a few bunt attempts, he hit into a double play to end the inning before a run could cross the plate. The Mets got things cooking in the bottom of the fourth, with a Davis single and Guillorme’s second walk gave Evan Lee two runners on with just one out. Nido, uncharacteristically, got his second hit of the day up the middle. And with the help of Strange-Gordon misplaying the ball, both Davis and Guillorme scored, giving the Mets a two run lead with still just one out and the lineup turning over again. Nimmo hit a hard out to Soto for the second out but that was all for Lee, and the Nationals brought in Víctor Arano. Arano extracted the Nationals from the trouble, despite a passed ball by Riley Adams putting Nido just 90 feet from home, by getting Marte to ground out and end the inning before Nido could cross home.

Carrasco almost had a quick, clean inning. César Hernández grounded out and Soto struck out, but the third walk issued to Nelson Cruz by Carrasco gave him yet another baserunner to have to worry about. Bell hit a ball into the left field corner for a double. Cruz could only slowly hobble to third though, keeping the Nationals scoreless but giving them runners on second and third with two outs. Yadiel Hernández hit a ball that bounced right in front of the plate and died. Hernández didn’t even attempt to run, so Nido picked up the ball and tagged him out for the third out to strand the runners and kill the Nationals scoring opportunity. Arano had a quick inning, getting three outs from the Mets on just five pitches.

Seth Lugo came in to pitch the sixth inning for the Mets, and he had an easy inning. Besides a Adams single, he quickly got three outs from the Nationals to jeep the Mets in the elad going into the final third of the game. Carl Edwards Jr. came in for Washington in the bottom of the inning. Despite a leadoff walk to Davis, Edwards escaped unscathed, striking out Escobar and getting Guillorme to ground into a double play.

Lugo was out again for the seventh, and he got a six pitch, perfect inning. A fly out and two ground outs to the top of the Nationals order kept them scoreless, and was also the first time Cruz got out in today’s game, after three walks. Steve Cishek started the seventh for the Nationals. Nido got an infield hit after César Hernández misplayed the ball. Nimmo flew out but then Marte hit a ball to Soto that, after a weird route, fell for a single and Nido ended up at third base. Kyle Finnegan then came in to pitch. Lindor hit a sac fly to drive in Nido and extended his RBI streak to 10 games. Alonso popped out in foul ground to end the inning. Ottavino came in to pitch for the Mets in the eighth. He started the inning with trouble, putting two men on with a single and a walk. He struck out Franco to give himself some wiggle room. He then struck out Luis García to almost get out of it. Keibert Ruiz ground out to end the trouble.

In the eighth, Ottavino had a deeply frustrating inning. He gave up a Bell single and a Yadiel Hernández walk. But two strikeouts and a ground out got him out of hot water before he could screw it up even more. Jordan Weems came out for Washington in the bottom of the inning. A Canha ground out preceded the trouble. Davis singled, and made it to second on an Escobar force out. A wild pitch brought him to third, then Guillorme walked to put runners on the corners with two outs. Nido, completed his first ever four hit game with a double over Yadiel Hernández’s head to drive in Davis and Guillorme and put the final nail in the coffin for the Nationals.

Edwin Díaz came in for the ninth. He got Dee Strange-Gordon to line out to Guillorme for the first out. He struck out Yadiel Hernandez for the second out. Juan Soto then struck out and ended the game, completing the sweep and finalizing the undefeated homestand.

The Mets have not lost since they left California, but now they head back for their hardest stretch yet. They will be facing three contenders, the league best Dodgers, the Padres, and the Angels. When they face the Angels they will probably face former Met Noah Syndergaard, providing some ink for the headlines. But for now, they can rest on their laurels of two consecutive sweeps.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Tomás Nido, +27.9% WPA
Big Mets loser: Brandon Nimmo, -10.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: +41.8% WPA
Mets hitters: +8.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Tomás Nido’s drives in two with a single in the fourth, +25.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Riley Adams singles in the fourth, -8.5% WPA