Mets’ Bats Fall Flat Again in 4-1 Loss to Nationals

The Mets took on the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night looking to bounce back from an ugly 5-0 loss in the series opener. Despite Kodai Senga battling through five innings while struggling with his command, the Mets were unable to generate any offense against MacKenzie Gore as the Nationals won 4-1 to take their second straight game in the series.

Senga found himself in early trouble in the second inning. After a leadoff walk to Keibert Ruiz,Old friend Dominic Smith doubled to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out. Lane Thomas followed with an infield single that brought in the first run of the game. With Eduardo Escobar playing in after a fouled bunt attempt, CJ Abrams hit a soft single to left field to drive in Smith and give Washington a 2-0 lead. While a lack of control was hurting Senga, he was able to strike out three in the inning and strand the bases loaded to keep the deficit at two. He needed 48 pitches to get through the second inning.

The Mets got a break to start the bottom of the third inning when Escobar lined a ball to right field that Thomas misplayed for a leadoff triple. Escobar hit what would have been a single to right field, but Thomas attempted to slide for the ball as it sliced away from him and the result was three bases for the Mets’ third baseman. Tomás Nido attempted to push a bunt by Gore, but ended up just pushing the ball right at the National’s young left-hander for an easy first out. After Brandon Nimmo struck out for the second out, it was up to Starling Marte to get the run home. With two strikes, he lined a single to left-center field to get the Mets on the board and cut the Nationals’ lead in half. Unfortunately for the Mets, it would be the only offense they would be able to generate.

The fourth inning started with more of the same for Senga. He walked Thomas to lead off the inning and allowed another soft single to Abrams to put the first two runners on base. Once again, Senga was able to navigate through the traffic by racking up strikeouts. He struck out two more Nationals to go along with a groundout to get out of the jam and keep the deficit at just one run.

Kodai Senga is done for the night after five innings. #LGM pic.twitter.com/uOGGLxgRV1

— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) April 27, 2023

After the Mets were unable to get even in the bottom of the fifth, Jeff Brigham entered the game for the Mets and was greeted with a two-base error by Pete Alonso to start the inning. Despite the error and a two-out walk, Brigham got through the inning without allowing a run.

Brigham went back out for a second inning of work, and, with one out, Jeimer Candelario hit a solo homer to push Washington’s lead to 3-1. After 5 1/3 innings pitched on the season, the home run was the first hit Brigham allowed on the season. After a two-out single by Ruiz, the Mets went to Brooks Raley who retired Smith for the final out of the top of the seventh inning.

With right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. entering the game to start the bottom of the seventh for the Nationals, the Mets turned to two left-handed pinch hitters to start the inning. Brett Baty and Daniel Vogelbach drew back-to-back walks to put the tying runs on base for the top of the order. After Nimmo grounded out to move Baty and a pinch-running Francisco Álvarez into scoring position, the Nationals turned to Hunter Harvey to get out of the jam. Harvey would go on to strike out Marte and Francisco Lindor to hold the two-run lead.

Adam Ottavino came into the game in the eighth inning for the Mets, and after striking out the first two batters, the inning turned on him. He walked Víctor Robles, then allowed him to advance to second base on an errant pickoff attempt. Robles stole third then scored on a base hit up the middle from Alex Call to extend Washington’s lead to 4-1.

David Robertsonentered in the ninth and pitched a scoreless ninth inning to keep the deficit at three runs, but the Mets would not pull any closer in the ninth. Nationals’ closer Kyle Finnegan retired the Mets in order to close out the 4-1 win and series victory for Washington. The loss was the Mets’ fourth in a row, their longest losing streak under Buck Showalter. The loss combined with the Braves 6-4 win over the Marlins puts the Mets three games out of first place with one more game to go before the teams meet for a four-game set.

Player of the Game: Jeff McNeil

Despite another underwhelming performance from the offense, Jeff McNeil went 2-3 with a pair of singles in the loss. The 2022 batting champion was hitting just .218 when the Mets arrived in Los Angeles for their series against the Dodgers, but since then, he has five multi-hit games over the past nine to improve his average to .295 on the season. He had hits in seven of the nine games, including two three-hit games.

On Deck

The Mets will take on the Nationals looking to salvage the finale of their three-game series on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. ET at Citi Field. Joey Lucchesi (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season after a terrific debut in San Francisco. The left-hander threw seven scoreless innings and struck out nine while allowing just four hits. The start was Lucchesi’s first in 672 days. The Nationals will have former Met Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.38 ERA) on the mound. Williams signed a two-year, $13 million contract to join Washington’s rotation after a strong 2022 campaign in a swing role for the Mets.

The game will be on SNY, and the radio broadcast will be on WCBS 880.

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