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).

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).

The Washington Nationals (45-32) defeated the New York Mets (40-35) tonight by the final score of 11-4. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_06_27_nynmlb_wasmlb_1#game=2016_06_27_nynmlb_wasmlb_1,game_tab=box,game_state=Wrapup

Game Notes:

• Noah Syndergaard was lit up for 5 runs on 7 hits in 3 innings pitched. He walked 3 and struck out 5 in his worst outing of the season.
• Sean Gilmartin wasn’t better in relief allowing 5 runs on 7 hits in 3 innings pitched.
• Wilmer Flores was 2-4 with 2 RBI’s.
• Brandon Nimmo collected his first and second Major League hits by going 2-4.
• Travis d’Arnaud was 3-4 with three singles.

Tonight’s game was flat-out ugly no matter which way you slice it. The Mets jumped on Nationals starter Joe Ross early tagging him for four runs in the first three innings before the game imploded before our very eyes. Taking a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the third, Noah Syndergaard was tagged for five runs and would be removed after the inning. The Nationals played small ball against Thor swiping a season high five bases off of him and hitting singles to drive in runs. It was the shortest outing of Syndergaard’s career and there are now question marks surrounding him after this start. The questions certainly merit warrant after he departed his last start with elbow discomfort and he now had the worst start of his season. New York Daily News reporter Kristie Ackert has reported that Syndergaard is dealing with bone chips in his pitching elbow and is trying to delay surgery until after the season. Syndergaard however denied the report after the game, stating nothing is wrong with his elbow. Fingers crossed the latter is the truth. 

This was not the kind of outcome the Mets had hoped for after a promising early 4-0 lead, and then the Nationals scoring 11 unanswered runs. In a battle to regain control of first place, with tonight’s loss, the Mets now sit four games out of first place and the best they can do is come out of this series two games out of first. The road over the next two games doesn’t get any easier as the Nationals send two electric pitchers to the mound to face the Mets struggling offense. Ya gotta believe that the Mets can right the ship tomorrow after a tough day both on and off the field, with question marks now surrounding both Syndergaard and Steven Matz. Let’s keep the faith and hope for a crucial victory tomorrow night. 

• The Mets and Nationals will square off in the second game of their three game series tomorrow evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm et. You can watch tomorrow’s game on SNY and MLB Network.

• Matt Harvey (4-9, 4.64 ERA) will look to help the Mets swing momentum back in their favor while opposing Nationals right-hander Lucas Giolito who will be making his Major League debut.