The Washington Nationals (46-32) defeated the New York Mets (40-36) by the final score of 5-0 tonight. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_06_28_nynmlb_wasmlb_1#game=2016_06_28_nynmlb_wasmlb_1,game_tab=box,game_state=Wrapup

Game Notes:

• In a rain-shortened outing Matt Harvey went 3.2 innings while allowing 1 run on 4 hits. He walked 3 and struck out 3.
• Jerry Blevins was charged with 2 runs in 1.1 innings of relief on a 2-run homer by Bryce Harper.
• Hansel Robles pitched 2 innings while allowing 2 runs on 2 hits while walking 2 batters and striking out 2.
• Asdrubal Cabrera was 1-4 with a double. It was the Mets only extra base-hit of the night.

Well if it couldn’t get much worse last night for Mets fans it certainly did tonight. The Mets were completely blanked offensively by Nats starter Lucas Giolito who pitched four rain-shortned innings and the Nationals bullpen who pitched five scoreless innings in relief. The Mets were only down 1-0 before mother nature intervened in the bottom of the fourth and caused an 85-minute rain delay. However when Matt Harvey was pulled after the delay, reliever Jerry Blevins served up a 2-run home run to Bryce Harper in the bottom of the fifth which almost seemed to put the game out of reach, despite the Mets only being down 3-0. 

The Mets certainly had an opportunity in the top of the sixth inning to claw back into the game after loading the bases with one out. But former Met Oliver Perez would have other plans and strike out James Loney, as well as retire Wilmer Flores on a fly ball to center field to end the Mets lone threat. Another ho-hum outing for the Mets offense and things will not get any easier with Max Scherzer on the mound for the Nats. 

Despite Matt Harvey being tagged with the loss it wasn’t necessarily his fault Mother Nature made her presence felt and cut his outing short. Harvey looked to be pitching better than his last start in Washington when he was absolutely tattooed. Harvey unfortunately now becomes the quickest Mets pitcher in history to approach ten losses in a season. Tough break for the Dark Knight tonight as much of it wasn’t the fault of his own.  

Curtis Granderson did not come out to play right field after the rain delay as it seems he is dealing with a mild right calf strain. Apparently this injury caused Granderson to sit on Sunday against the Braves and it may cost him a start tomorrow evening against the Nationals. It doesn’t seem to be anything too serious, but with the Mets rash of injuries this season we will keep a close eye on it. Alejandro De Aza replaced Granderson in right field after the delay. 

The Mets have now dropped back five games in the standings behind the Nationals, and will look to at least salvage a game out of this series tomorrow night. The Mets now sit in third place and can’t afford to keep losing ground as they are probably in their toughest stretch of games this season prior to the All-Star Break. The Mets could quite frankly be out of the race prior to the break if they don’t begin stringing some wins together soon. They have one game against the Nationals remaining in this series, four against the Cubs next at Citi, three against the Marlins at Citi, and four against the Nationals at Citi to close out the first-half of the season. That is as tough of a schedule as they can face right now and there needs to be a sense of urgency heading into tomorrow’s finale. 

• Tomorrow’s series finale will take place at 7:05 pm et and can be seen on both SNY and ESPN 2.

• Logan Verrett (3-4, 4.14 ERA) will receive the spot start tomorrow evening for the Mets and oppose Nationals ace Max Scherzer (8-5, 3.52 ERA).