Mets Embarrass Selves in Loss to Nationals
And you thought Wednesday’s loss was bad. Hopefully Thursday night’s loss to the Nationals will be the low point of the season as the Mets lost in embarrassing fashion with Matt Harvey still struggling.
The Nats set the tone in the first inning when Daniel Murphy hit a long home run to deep center to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.
The Mets got a run back in the third when singles by Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera produced a run. The Mets then had runners on first and third with one out, but they could not get any more runs across.
The wheels came off in the third, and it really was not Harvey’s fault; he was done in by some shoddy fielding. With one on and one out, Bryce Harper singled to put runners on first and third. He promptly stole second, which was a bad idea because it allowed Harvey to intentionally walk the red hot Murphy. With the bases loaded, Ryan Zimmerman hit what should have been an inning-ending double play ball to Cabrera at short. Instead, he dropped the ball on the transfer; everyone was safe, a run scored, and the bases were still loaded. Anthony Rendon hit a liner to left. Michael Conforto had it lined up but it fell out of his glove. It was ruled a two-run double, but it probably should have been an error. In any case, it was now 5-1 with runners on second and third. Wilson Ramos singled them home to make it 7-1. He went to second on a single by Danny Espinosa. With two outs, Ben Revere tripled on a ball that got past Cespedes in center to make it 9-1. That was all for Harvey, walking off the field amid a chorus of boos from the frustrated crowd. Logan Verrett came in to get the third out.
Harvey’s ugly line score: 2.2 innings pitched, nine runs (six earned) allowed on eight hits, two walks and two strikeouts. His ERA now stands at an unsightly 5.77. That’s the fourth highest among qualified pitchers, although Harvey is in good company — Matt Cain and Adam Wainwright are behind him, and Zack Greinke’s ERA is also above five. Just saying.
The last six innings were just a boring blur. Mets lose 9-1 as they drop the series to the Nationals. The Mets have now lost six of their last seven games.