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Washington Nationals Drop Slugfest to Mets, 9-7

By Chris Lacey

Jul 7, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Lucas Giolito (44) reacts after a balk allowing New York Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson (3) to reach third base during the fourth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 7, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Lucas Giolito (44) reacts after a balk allowing New York Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson (3) to reach third base during the fourth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Washington Nationals fell short in a slugfest, as the Mets won 9-7 in the series opener.

The Washington Nationals didn’t get a great outing from rookie Lucas Giolito and the bullpen struggled as well throughout the night. In total, the Nats gave up four home runs as they lost the series opener against the New York Mets, 9-7.

Former Met Daniel Murphy gave the Nationals an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first inning. Two innings later, James Loney helped the Mets tie the score at 1-1 with a single of his own to score Yoenis Cespedes.

Bryce Harper hit his 18th home run of the season in the fourth inning to give the Nats a 2-1 cushion. Later in the inning, Clint Robinson and Anthony Rendon hit back-to-back homers to extend the lead to 4-1. It was the fourth and ninth home runs of the season for Robinson and Rendon, respectively.

Travis d’Arnaud and Jose Reyes hit a pair of solo homers in the bottom of the fourth to decrease the deficit to 4-3. It was the second homer for d’Arnaud and first for Reyes of the season. Later in the inning, Cespedes hit a two-out RBI double to tie the game at four.

Giolito had some struggles in his second start of the season. The young pitcher threw 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits, yielding four runs, issuing four walks, striking out four batters and surrendering two home runs on 90 pitches (52 strikes) in a no-decision.

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Murphy had an RBI groundout and Wilson Ramos singled in another run to put the Washington Nationals back in front, 6-4.

Bartolo Colon didn’t fare any better than Giolito. He pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up six runs on 10 hits, striking out two batters and allowing three homers on 77 pitches (53 strikes) in a no-decision.

The Mets got the lead back against Oliver Perez in the bottom of the inning when Wilmer Flores cranked a three-run home run to left field. While Perez gave up the big home run, he did go 2-for-2 at the plate.  Asdrubal Cabrera went deep in the sixth inning for his 11th home run of the year against Matt Belisle to make it 8-6.

Murphy continued to terrorize his former team, as he hit his 15th bomb in the seventh to cut the deficit to 8-7. He finished the game with two hits and had three RBI.

Neil Walker provided some breathing room in the bottom half of the seventh, by hitting an RBI single against Sammy Solis to score Curtis Granderson and put the Mets up by two.

Yusmeiro Petit relieved Solis and recorded the last out in the seventh. Petit also tossed a scoreless eighth inning. He was the only Washington Nationals reliever who didn’t allow a run.

The Washington Nationals went down quiet in the ninth inning, as Jeurys Familia picked up his 31st save of the season. Jayson Werth led off the inning with a walk, but he was later called out for interference on a 6-4-3 double play by Murphy.

Hansel Robles earned his third win of the year, as the reliever pitched 1.1 scoreless innings while Perez took his second loss.

Next: Daily: Zimmerman Out With Soreness

Next Game: The second game of this series figures to be a low-scoring affair, as the Washington Nationals (51-36) will have Stephen Strasburg (11-0, 2.71 ERA) on the mound against Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 2.41 ERA) for the New York Mets (47-38). You can watch the game at 7:10 p.m. ET on MASN.

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