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Washington Nationals Offense Pounds Matt Harvey In 9-1 Win

By Ricky Keeler |
May 19, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Washington Nationals third base coach Bob Henley (13) shakes the hand of Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy (20) as he rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
May 19, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Washington Nationals third base coach Bob Henley (13) shakes the hand of Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy (20) as he rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Nationals scored seven runs in the third inning against Matt Harvey as they beat the Mets, 9-1.

Tonight was the battle of the Scott Boras clients as the Washington Nationals (25-16) took on the New York Mets (22-18) in the rubber game of their three game series. Unlike their two prior meetings, Stephen Strasburg was able to beat Matt Harvey as the Nats’ offense scored seven runs in the top of the third inning en route to a 9-1 win.

In the first inning, Daniel Murphy got the Washington Nationals on the board against his former team. With two outs and Jayson Werth on first, Murphy hit a 0-2 curveball to dead center field for a two run home run. Murphy’s sixth home run of the season put the Nats up 2-0.

The Mets would get one run back in the bottom of the second against Strasburg. With runners on the corners and one out, Asdrubal Cabrera singled to center to drive in Yoenis Cespedes to cut the Nats’ lead to 2-1. But, that would be the only run the Mets would get against Strasburg.

One inning later, the Nationals offense did all of their damage against Harvey. After loading the bases with one out, Ryan Zimmerman hit a groundball to short that looked like a double play, but Cabrera bobbled it and it allowed Ben Revere to score. Then, Anthony Rendon hit a line drive to left that went off Michael Conforto’s glove that allowed two runners to score.

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With the score 5-1, the offense would continue. Wilson Ramos hit a two-run single to left to make it a 7-1 lead. Three batters later, the scoring would end when Revere picked up his second hit of the inning, a triple to left center that drove in two runs and put Washington up 9-1.

That would end Harvey’s night as he went 2.2 innings, gave up nine runs (six earned) on eight hits, struck out two, and walked two in the loss. The Mets’ bullpen shut out the Nats for the final 6.1 innings.

As for Strasburg, he bounced back after the second and shut down the Mets’ lineup. He went six innings, gave up one run on six hits (all singles), struck out ten, and walked one on 113 pitches (78 strikes) to pick up his seventh win of the season. He is the second pitcher in the National League to reach seven wins (Jake Arrieta of the Cubs).

In this game, Bryce Harper snapped a 0-for-21 slump against Harvey when he singled to right as part of that seven run third inning. Also, Rendon went 3-for-4 in the win. After Strasburg, the bullpen trio of Oliver Perez, Blake Treinen, and Jonathan Papelbon threw three hitless innings, struck out a combined three batters, and walked two.

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Next Game: The Washington Nationals will begin a three game series tomorrow night against the Miami Marlins (21-18) at Marlins Park. You can catch the game at 7:10 p.m ET on MASN. Tanner Roark (2-3, 3.10 ERA) will get the start for the Nats against Justin Nicolino (2-1, 3.75) for the Marlins.

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