Washington Nationals: Strasburg Shuts Down Mets In 3-1 Win
Tonight, Stephen Strasburg held the Mets to one run over seven innings as the Washington Nationals won the game, 3-1.
The Washington Nationals were looking for a great game from Stephen Strasburg tonight after a tough loss last night. Strasburg ended up giving the team a dominant outing as he gave up one run over seven innings. The offense helped him out by scoring three early runs against Noah Syndergaard, which ended up being all the Nats would need as they defeated the New York Mets, 3-1.
It was the Washington Nationals who scored first in the top of the second inning. After a one out single by Wilson Ramos, Clint Robinson hit a two-run home run to right field. Robinson’s fifth home run of the season and his second of the series gave the Nats a 2-0 lead.
One inning later, Daniel Murphy continued his great season against the Mets when he hit a double into the gap in left-center that drove in Jayson Werth. That Murphy hit would be the last hit the Washington Nationals would have the whole night.
As for Strasburg, he didn’t give up a hit in the first four innings. Then, in the fifth, Asdrubal Cabrera led off the inning with a solo home run to right. His 12th of the season and second in two nights cut the lead to 3-1.
Brandon Nimmo would single right after the home run, but Strasburg didn’t give up a hit for the rest of the night after that single. He went seven innings, gave up one run on two hits, struck out nine, and walked three on 108 pitches (67 strikes) to improve his record to 12-0 on the season.
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On the other side, the Mets had their fair share of injuries tonight. Yoenis Cespedes left the game after the third inning because of a strained right quad and was replaced by Juan Lagares. In the fifth, Syndergaard was taken out of the game and replaced by Seth Lugo. Here is the update on Syndergaard:
Mets say Syndergaard left tonight's game with "arm fatigue, not elbow related." He does, however, still have bone spurs in his elbow.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) July 9, 2016
Once Strasburg’s night was over, it was up to the bullpen to protect the two-run lead. Shawn Kelley started the eighth by giving up a double to Wilmer Flores and an infield single to Jose Reyes. Dusty Baker went to Oliver Perez to face Curtis Granderson and he popped out to Espinosa.
Baker went right back to his bullpen after that out and went to Blake Treinen to face Lagares. Treinen ended up winning the battle as he got Lagares to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play and the Washington Nationals escaped with their two run lead intact. Jonathan Papelbon came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and retired the Mets in order, including one strikeout, and picked up his 18th save of the season.
Next: Why Tonight Is A Big Start For Strasburg
Next Game: The Washington Nationals (52-36) will play the third game of their series against the New York Mets (47-39) tomorrow night at Citi Field. You can watch the game on FOX at 7:15 p.m ET. All-Star Max Scherzer (9-6, 3.21 ERA) will start for the Nats against Logan Verrett (3-5, 4.01) for the Mets.