Max Scherzer, Daniel Murphy lead Washington Nationals to win over Mets
Max Scherzer turned in another dominant performance and Daniel Murphy continued to torture his old ball club as the Washington Nationals topped the Mets, 6-1, Saturday night in New York.
With big performances from All-Stars Max Scherzer and Daniel Murphy, the Washington Nationals pounded the Mets, 6-1, in the third game of their four game series at Citi Field.
Scherzer got the start for the Nationals and did not disappoint. The right-hander, who just yesterday replaced Stephen Strasburg on the NL All-Star team, pitched seven brilliant innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out nine batters and walking two.
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His lone blemish came in the bottom of the first inning, when the Mets took the lead on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Neil Walker. Fortunately for Scherzer, the Nationals would give him plenty of run support, and the Mets’ offense fell silent the rest of the night.
The Nationals tied the game on a sacrifice fly by Clint Robinson in the second inning. Washington scored two more runs an inning later on an RBI triple by Ben Revere and an RBI single by Murphy, giving them a 3-1 lead.
Murphy struck again in the fifth, driving in the Nationals’ fourth run with a double to center field.
All five of those runs were charged to Mets starter Logan Verrett, who gave up five runs on four hits and five walks.
Unfortunately for the Mets, Murphy wasn’t done. With a runner on base, the former Met crushed a 1-1 fastball from Mets reliever Antonio Bastardo to right-center field for his 16th home run of the season. The blast put the game out of reach for the Mets, securing a 6-1 victory for the Nationals.
With the win, the Nationals improve their record to 53-36 on the season and lead the Mets by five games in the NL East.
Next: Washington Nationals: Stephen Strasburg Wins Battle of Aces
Next Up: The Nationals and Mets will be back in action tomorrow afternoon, as they wrap up the first half of the season with the final game of the series. Gio Gonzalez takes the mound for the Nats, while Steven Matz gets the start for the Mets. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. ET.