WASHINGTON -- Warning: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. In this case, the object in question is the New York Mets. The vehicle in question? That would be the Washington Nationals' bandwagon.
Coming off one of the most successful road trips since Lewis and Clark left Missouri, the Nats were looking a whole lot like the top team in baseball. Overall, the reigning NL East champs were winning at a .727 clip (16-6), better than any club in the bigs. They were fresh off a three-city trek during which they posted a 9-1 mark, the best in franchise history for a tour of 10-plus games. In the final three games of said tour -- all wins -- they erupted for an eye-popping 42 runs against the previously NL West-leading Rockies (yes, it was in Colorado, but 42 runs is 42 runs). Suffice it to say, the bandwagon was humming right along.
Meanwhile, the Mets were busy putting the "dump" in dumpster fire. Losers of six straight, they were dead last in the NL East. Three of those L's came last week when they got swept at home by the Nats. As if that weren’t enough, on Thursday they got bad news about both their ace Noah Syndergaard (biceps tendinitis) and their best bat Yoenis Cespedes, (placed on the 10-day disabled list with a hamstring injury). But wait, there’s more.
On Friday, in the opener of a three-game set in D.C., the Mets had the displeasure of facing Max Scherzer, the reigning Cy Young winner who pretty much pretends that he's Cy Young every time he faces New York. In eight starts since coming to Washington in 2015, Scherzer had posted a 1.70 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP against the Mets. Oh, and he’s tossed a no-hitter against them. On Saturday, New York drew Stephen Strasburg, who has a career 2.53 ERA against the Mets and who hadn’t lost an April decision since the 2015 season.
So why even bother playing the games, right? Wrong.
In the opener, New York starter Jacob deGrom tamed the Nats' bats (12 K's in seven innings) and the Mets rocked Scherzer for five runs (all of them coming on a pair of Travis d'Arnaud blasts) en route to a 7-5 victory. In Game 2, Strasburg was good but not good enough, as the Mets used two Michael Conforto bombs and a parade of relievers to hand Washington a 5-3 loss. By doing so, they put themselves one win away from a road sweep that, just a couple of days ago, seemed about as likely as a "Collateral Beauty" sequel. Adding injury to insult for the Nats is the fact that in Friday’s loss, center fielder Adam Eaton -- who was acquired in a blockbuster December deal and has been sparking Washington's league-leading offense -- shredded his left leg and looks like he could be out for a while. Not that New York fans were feeling any sympathy.
When Saturday's contest started, the Seven Line Army -- the infamous and boisterous band of traveling Mets fans -- was easily drowned out by the 36,000-plus spectators on hand in D.C. Three hours later, when Jose Reyes' ninth-inning solo shot finished off the scoring, the SLA’s chants of "We can’t hear you" were crystal clear, piercing through a Nats Park crowd that had fallen silent while watching three of the Nationals' brightest stars give uncharacteristic performances.
Despite registering a quality start, Strasburg tallied just two strikeouts in seven innings, his lowest K total ever in an outing of at least five innings. Bryce Harper, the former MVP who has been partying like it's 2015 at the plate, whiffed three times for the second straight day, marking just the second time in his career that he has fanned thrice in back-to-back games. And Daniel Murphy, the former Met and current Met-killer, went 0-for-3, just the second time in 24 contests that he has gone hitless against his old mates.
Despite his squad's struggles, Dusty Baker didn’t seem to concerned after the game.
"Not really," said the Nats skipper when asked if he felt like his team had squandered a prime opportunity the last couple of days. "Because they had deGrom on the mound, too. And then they got Syndergaard [Sunday]. Before the series started, they were reeling, but at the same time, a good-pitched game can stop your reeling. And they're pulling out all the stops. They're using [Addison] Reed four days in a row, and using [Jeurys] Familia three days in a row. I don't know what the next day is, but they're counting on Syndergaard to go deep in the ball game [Sunday]. The last couple days, even though we've had [Scherzer and Strasburg] on the mound, they've hit the ball out of the ballpark. That's what they're known for. If you don't make quality pitches on them, or if you make a mistake, they're known to hit the ball out of the ballpark."
In other words, despite the 9-13 record, the Mets are still deceptively dangerous. Just like objects in the mirror that are closer than they appear.
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