4/2 Game Recap: Nationals best Mets 5-1

In the second game of the season, the Mets took on the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Bartolo Colon made his first-ever start against the Mets and faced off against Gio Gonzalez. For the first time since 2005, the Mets fell in consecutive games to start the season, as the Nationals defeated the Mets 5-1.

Apr 2, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher

(40) reacts as Washington Nationals shortstop

(20) rounds third base after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a game at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Game Recap

In the top half of the first inning, Colon looked sharp in his Mets debut. He did give up a two-out single to Jayson Werth, but worked out of the frame for a scoreless inning.

For the Mets in their half inning, things started off well when leadoff hitter Juan Lagares drove the ball into the right-center field gap just beyond the reach of Denard Span. Lagares hustled right out of the box and was able to get to third with a triple. Two batters later, David Wright brought in Lagares with a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

After the first was over, the Mets were forced to make a move in the outfield. Andrew Brown replaced newly-acquired Chris Young, as Young appeared to re-aggravate his quad.

Colon continued to roll though, and for the next two innings, recording six consecutive outs. Gonzalez was just as impressive though, and the Mets could not add to the lead in the early innings.

The Nationals finally started to get to Colon in the fourth, and courtesy of back-to-back doubles from Werth and Adam Laroche, the game was tied at one apiece.

A two-out double from Lagares down the third base line looked to give the Mets with a second and third opportunity in their half of the fifth, but Ruben Tejada got aggressive and decided to run home and was cut down by Bryce Harper to end the threat.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the fifth, the Nationals took their first lead of the game on a lead-off home run from Ian Desmond. After Jose Lobaton flew out to center, Gonzalez helped his own cause with a homer of his own that barely cleared the left field wall, hitting the grating above the orange line to give Washington a 3-1 advantage.

Gonzalez continued to roll on the hill as well, and the Mets bats had trouble getting any rally started against the the lefty.

Already up two and having consecutive doubles off of relief pitcher Gonzalez German, the Nats added another run when German uncorked a wild pitch that got by Travis d’Arnaud. German settled down after this though, and got the next six hitters out between the seventh and eighth innings.

Kyle Farnsworth came on for the ninth inning and allowed the Nats to add more insurance. Denard Span started the rally with a one-out triple and then scored on an Anthony Rendon ground out.

Down by four in the ninth, the Mets went down without a fight when Craig Stammen struck out Wright, induced a deep fly out from Curtis Granderson and punched out  Brown to end the game. The two strikeouts in the ninth made it 13 for the game, and 31 total for the first two games for the Mets.

Highlights 

• Colon looked strong through the first three innings when he mowed down most of the Washington lineup. Even with the two homers and three runs allowed, he was able to give the Mets six innings.
• Lagares for the second consecutive game proved that he deserves to be the every day center fielder with his bat, recording two more extra-base hits. His bat has looked in the first two games, making the Eric Young, Jr. debate a little tougher.
• After initial struggles, German looked strong out of the bullpen when he was able to get six straight outs in his relief appearance.

Next Up

Thursday afternoon at 1:10 Zack Wheeler will take the ball for the first time in 2014. The Nationals will counter with a right-handed pitcher of their own in Jordan Zimmermann.

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