Washington Nationals Bring the Bats in Win Over New York Mets
By Kenny DeJohn
Aug 12, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder
Bryce Harper(34), center fielder
Denard Span(2) and center fielder
Michael Taylor(18) celebrate the win against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Washington Nationals won 7-1. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Nationals brought the lumber in support of starter Doug Fister on Tuesday evening against the New York Mets, as the team left the confines of Citi Field three times during the contest.
Mets starter Rafael Montero was unable to keep the Nationals quiet early in the ballgame. He surrendered a first-inning double to Asdrubal Cabrera before retiring the side, but Bryce Harper struck in the top of the second frame. He launched his fifth homer of the year to left field, scoring Ian Desmond in the process. Desmond had walked to leadoff the inning.
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The two starters then traded zeros until the top of the sixth inning. Fister was pitching excellently, but a little insurance is always nice. Anthony Rendon provided just that, leading off the inning with his 16th homer.
Clearly rattled by the shot, Montero proceeded to walk the next batter, Adam LaRoche. The Mets made a visit to the mound in hopes of calming their young starter down. The nerves were too much, however, as the next batter—Desmond—jacked his 20th homer of the year.
Now down 5-0, the Mets made a move to the bullpen. In came Carlos Torres. The results were no different.
Torres got Harper to fly out, but allowed a single to catcher Wilson Ramos. Ramos, who had two hits on the night, wasn’t stuck on first for very long. Michael Taylor, the next batter, made his debut in the bigs on Tuesday. He made the most of his first game, as he launched a two-run shot of Torres.
Now with a 7-0 lead, Fister cruised through two more innings of work. He finished with three strikeouts and just seven hits allowed en route to his 12th win of the season.
Ross Detwiler gave Nats fans a scare when he came on to pitch the eighth. Both Daniel Murphy and David Wright singled to start the inning, and Detwiler proceeded to hit Lucas Duda to load the bases. Travis d’Arnaud flied out to get Detwiler a much-needed out, but pinch-hitter Eric Campbell hit a sac fly to center that scored Murphy from third.
Detwiler went on to finish the eighth and the ninth without allowing another run.
With the bats going the way they are right now, the Nats are going to be a tough team to beat.