District On Deck
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Washington Nationals Shut Out By Mets In Series Finale

By Ricky Keeler

May 25, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; New York Mets third baseman David Wright (5) hits a home run against Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (not pictured) in the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
May 25, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; New York Mets third baseman David Wright (5) hits a home run against Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (not pictured) in the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Despite a good performance by Tanner Roark, the Washington Nationals offense struggled against Steven Matz in a 2-0 loss to the Mets

After the Washington Nationals (28-19) hit five home runs last night against the New York Mets (27-19), the offense did not score one run against Steven Matz as the Nats lost the rubber game of this series, 2-0, even though Tanner Roark put up a good pitching performance.

New York’s first run of the day occurred in the top of the first inning when David Wright hit a 0-1 fastball over the wall in left field for a solo home run. It was Wright’s sixth home run of the season and his second in the series.

Even though Roark gave up the home run, he was able to contain the Mets’ offense for most of the day. He went seven innings, gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits, struck out five, and walked two on 113 pitches (75 strikes), but took the loss.

The Mets would add their second run of the game in the top of the seventh. Neil Walker led off the inning with a base hit. Two batters later, Eric Campbell hit a groundball to short that looked like a double play, but Daniel Murphy made his fifth error of the season. That error came back to bite the Nats when Rene Rivera drove in Walker with a base hit to left field to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

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This afternoon, Matz was dominant against the Nats’ lineup. The left-hander went eight innings, gave up no runs on four hits, struck out seven, and walked one on 104 pitches (71 strikes) as he won his seventh game of the season.

At one point in this game, Matz retired 16 in a row before a base hit by pinch-hitter Clint Robinson in the bottom of the eighth. Bryce Harper didn’t start the game, but he ended up pinch-hitting for Michael Taylor in the bottom of the eighth as the tying run. However, he grounded out to short to end the inning.

During the game, Washington Nationals’ hitting coach Rick Schu was ejected by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn for arguing balls and strikes when Chris Heisey (who was in the lineup for Harper) struck out in the bottom of the fifth. After Roark left the game, Oliver Perez and Blake Treinen combined for two perfect innings and two strikeouts.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jeurys Familia came in to close it out for the Mets. Familia gave up back-to-back singles to Jayson Werth and Murphy to begin the inning, but the Washington Nationals couldn’t capitalize. Ryan Zimmerman struck out, Anthony Rendon grounded out to first, and Wilson Ramos grounded out to third to end the game as Familia picked up his 16th save of the year.

Next: Reaction: Strasburg Improves To 8-0 With Win Over Mets

Next Game: The Washington Nationals will begin a four game series tomorrow night against the St. Louis Cardinals (24-22) at Nats Park. You can catch the game on MASN and MLB Network at 7:05 p.m ET. Joe Ross (3-4, 2.70 ERA) will get the start for the Nats against Mike Leake (3-3, 4.07) for the Cardinals.

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