Juan Lagares Returns, Leads Mets to Win
Proving once again that Mets fans know what’s better for the team than the brilliant decision-makers, Juan Lagares was put back into the Mets lineup on Saturday and he exploded on offense and defense, leading the team to a win over the Nationals.
Daniel Murphy and David Wright singled and Chris Young walked to load the bases with one out in the first. Eric Campbell singled to plate two runs and move Chris Young to third. Lagares singled to make it 3-0. With two outs Wilmer Flores, also back in the lineup after an inexplicable absence, walked to load the bases. Bartolo Colon flied out to end the inning.
After Campbell singled again in the third, Juan Lagares connected with a blast into the seats in center field to extend the lead to 5-0.
Bartolo Colon gave up a two-run homer to Ian Desmond in the fourth to make it a 5-2 game.
In the sixth inning the Mets got revenge on Jayson Werth for stealing that home run from Murphy last night. Werth launched a shot to dead center and Lagares, of course, jumped and caught the ball over the fence.
Murphy walked with one out in the seventh and Wright reached on an error to put runners on first and third. However, neither Chris Young nor Campbell could bring them home.
Colon went eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked one batter and struck out five. He upped his record to 3-5 and lowered his NL worst ERA from 5.84 to 5.34, still second worst in the league.
Jenrry Mejia pitched the ninth and picked up the first save of his career.
Mets snap their three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win.