The Mets’ offense finally awakened after going quiet in Queens following the West Coast trip, rallying after a nightmare eighth inning that featured Nationals’ shortstop CJ Abrams’ first major league grand slam that led a five-run frame in Thursday’s 9-8 win.
Mets pitchers hit three Nationals in the eighth that led to the nightmare frame, almost leading to a series sweep to a team sitting at the bottom of the NL East.
Brooks Raley entered the eighth with a 7-3 lead after reliever Tommy Hunter hit two batters and Francisco Lindor’s error landed runners in scoring position. Raley gave up a sacrifice fly to Nationals’ second baseman Luis Garcia and hit outfielder Victor Robles before Abrams hit the grand slam.
But the Mets, down 8-7, fought back in the bottom of the eighth. Starling Marte singled and stole second base to spark the rally. Pete Alonso, who snapped his 0-for-19 stretch entering Thursday’s game, doubled to score Marte and Jeff McNeil hit an RBI triple to take the lead.
After combining for nine hits the previous two games, the Mets got 16 hits in Thursday’s game. David Robertson took the mound in the ninth inning to secure a save that salvaged the series.
“I’m getting my pitches and I’m missing them,” Lindor said after Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Nationals. “I’ve definitely got to be better, I personally feel like I have to do better, but it’s part of the game. As a professional, I definitely need to do better.”
The Mets, including Lindor, got the big hits against the Nationals this time.
After failing to get the big hit late in Wednesday’s loss, Lindor hit a two-out double that scored two in the fourth.
Rookie Brett Baty went 3-for-3 and hit his first home run in his career.
Brandon Nimmo got two hits on the night after hitting .143 during the four-game skid.
With a 4-1 lead, the Mets ran into trouble in the sixth inning after starter Joey Lucchesi allowed two singles to left field to Joey Meneses and outfielder Lane Thomas. He was pulled for Hunter, who gave up a single to DH Stone Garrett to load the bases.
Garcia hit a pinch-hit single that loaded the bases and Robles’ fielder’s choice scored Thomas, shortening the Nationals’ deficit to 4-3. Hunter then struck out Abrams to end the inning.
Aside from a solo shot from Alex Call in the third, Lucchesi had a decent outing until the sixth frame muddied his statline a bit. The lefty finished with five hits, two walks, three earned runs over 5.1 innings of work.
The Nationals who currently sit last in the NL East came into New York and showcased pitchers that could be potential aces for the rebuilding club. Mackenzie Gore, the third-round pick in the 2017 draft, limited the Mets to just one run and two walks over six innings of work Wednesday. He struck out a career-high 10 batters.
New Rochelle native Josiah Gray didn’t allow a run over six innings on Tuesday. Gray and Gore now feature ERAs at 2.93 and 3.00 respectively with just four combined wins due to the overall rebuilding roster.
Thursday’s starter Trevor Williams, however, wasn’t as sharp as his teammates. The righty pitched five innings, allowing nine hits, four earned runs, two walks and struck out four.
The Mets will now end their homestand after hosting the Atlanta Braves during a four-game series starting Friday. The Braves (17-9) sit atop the NL East and are led by a fully healthy Ronald Acuna Jr. The early NL MVP frontrunner is slashing .363/.449/.569 with four home runs, 12 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
Buck Showalter is expected to start David Peterson against Max Fried on Friday. Peterson owns 7.36 ERA to start the season and faces an uphill battle against Atlanta’s ace, who is 1-0 with a pristine 0.60 ERA.
Tylor Megill, Jose Butto and Kodai Senga are scheduled to take the mound in the series. The Braves are expected to deploy right-handers Spencer Strider (1.80 ERA), Charlie Morton (2.76 ERA) and Bryce Elder (2.17 ERA) while in New York.
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