The Washington Nationals (47-32) completed a three-game sweep of the New York Mets (40-37) tonight as they won by the final score of 4-2. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_06_29_nynmlb_wasmlb_1#game=2016_06_29_nynmlb_wasmlb_1,game_tab=box,game_state=Wrapup

Game Notes:

• Logan Verrett pitched 5 innings while allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. He walked 4 and struck out 1.
• James Loney hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 9th. He finished tonight’s game 1-4.
• Kelly Johnson was 1-3 with a double.
• Antonio Bastardo had his best outing of late pitching 2 perfect innings.
• Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy had 2 home runs tonight off Mets pitching and accounted for 3 RBI’s.

The Mets came into this series with a chance to come out tied for first place with the Washington Nationals. That opportunity has long passed, as the Mets now sit six games out of first place and welcome the Chicago Cubs to Citi Field for four games beginning tomorrow. It could possibly be time to begin hitting the panic button, as the schedule is not in the Mets favor heading into the All-Star Break, and with Terry Collins preaching urgency prior to tonight’s game, the Mets simply fell flat. 

The Mets did not score until James Loney cracked a 2-run home run in the top of the 9th, but prior to that home run the Mets were in a 23 inning scoreless drought. Watching Daniel Murphy single-handily destroy the Mets tonight added salt in the wound to the Mets stagnant offense. Murphy is now hitting a robust .429 (15-35) with four home runs and 11 RBI’s against the Mets this season. Murphy also holds an insane 1.229 OPS against the Mets this season, and it could be determined that he has turned into a bonafide killer against his former team. 

The Mets however had an opportunity to climb back into tonight’s game in the top of the eighth only down  2-0. The Mets had two runners in scoring position, with two outs, and the struggling Alejandro De Aza struck out against Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley to end the inning. It’s hard to see De Aza staying on the Mets roster as soon as Jose Reyes and Juan Lagares are set to be activated, as he hasn’t done much with the playing time he has received and is in a 2-36 rut at the plate. 

The Mets welcome a white-hot Cubs team to New York, who surely will be fired up to face the team who eliminated them in last year’s NLCS. The Mets are quickly falling behind in the standings and if things do not turn around very soon, it is going to get uglier than we ever thought it would very quickly. Let’s hope for the best heading into this next series and remember ya gotta believe!

• The Mets and Cubs will do battle for the first of four games this weekend, beginning tomorrow night at Citi Field with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm et. You can watch tomorrow’s game on SNY and MLB Network.

• After having his start pushed back a day, Steven Matz (7-3, 3.29 ERA) will take the hill for the Mets and oppose Cubs starter John Lackey (7-4, 3.29 ERA).