New York Mets avoid sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals

Thanks to some late-inning heroics, the New York Mets avoided a sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals.

The New York Mets closed out their homestand with the first Washington Nationals visit to Citi Field. Washington took the first two games from the Mets, but with a little help from Yoenis Cespedes, the Mets avoided a sweep.

The offense in this series was a rollercoaster. It started out really strong, got lost somewhere along the way, but found its way back just in time.

Game 1- Monday, April 16, 2018

The Mets and their hot offense jumped to an early lead in game 1, making Mets fans feel secure in their early season success., but Mets fans should realize at this point that no lead is safe. We cannot forget it’s still the Mets we are talking about here.

The Mets were trailing Washington 1-0 in the first inning after Bryce Harper hit a broken bat home run that ESPN will surely play on a loop every day for the rest of eternity. We get it.

New York would quickly respond in the bottom of the inning on two consecutive doubles from Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier. Tie game.

In the bottom of the second, Jacob deGrom singled to center field, but Nationals pitcher Jeremy Hellickson would keep the game tied at 1.

Asdrubal Cabrera singled in the third and advanced to second when Conforto walked. Cabrera would score on a Frazier double. Conforto tried to score but was thrown out at the plate. 2-1 Mets.

Again, Cabrera got things started for the Mets in the 5th with a single to right field, but nothing would come of it. Cabrera has been the Mets most consistent hitter, and all around fun to watch. Can the Mets ride his sudden consistency all season?

2-1 Mets going into the 6th.

The bottom of the 6th inning was when things started to get interesting. Juan Lagares walked and stole second with Jose Lobaton at the plate. Lobaton walked, and Lagares stole third. Say what you want about Lagares and his poor offense thus far, but he is fast. Not may Mets are fast. Lagares is valuable in that aspect.

deGrom laid down a perfect bunt that was then botched by pitcher Matt Grace. Lagares scored, Lobaton to third. 3-1 Mets. Rosario then grounded to force out deGrom at second, scoring Lobaton. Rosario would be caught stealing to end the inning. 4-1 Mets.

Brandon Nimmo tripled, his second of the year, to leadoff the bottom of the 7th. With Nimmo on third, Cabrera hit his 4th home run of the year. 6-1 Mets.

deGrom was wonderful. He was the first Met starter to throw a pitch in the 8th inning. But when he gave up a leadoff walk, followed by a hit to Trea Turner, Mickey Calaway went to his bullpen. BIG mistake.

The bullpen ended up handing over the 6-1 lead, ruining deGrom’s night, and surrendering the first game of the series to the Nationals, 6-8.

Shake it off, guys. They are still the Mets. They were due for a meltdown.

Game 2- Tuesday, April 17, 2018

A pretty quiet night, offensively, for the Mets, only scoring 2 runs on 11 hits. In true Mets fashion, the Mets left way too many runners on base.

The only scoring the Mets did in game 2 was during the 4th inning. Zack Wheeler singled to lead off the 5th. Look at the pitchers getting it done! Rosario doubled Wheeler to third, and would then score on a sacrifice fly from Cabrera.

Rosario would reach third on a throwing error, and score on a Cespedes groundout.

Two runs would be all the Mets would get in their 5-2 loss to the Nationals.

This was the first time this year that the Mets lost two consecutive games.

Game 3- April 18, 2017

Trying to avoid a sweep, the Mets would be trailing 3-0 in the first inning due to a Ryan Zimmerman home run off of Matz.

It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights, as Tanner Roark kept the Mets off the board until the 4th.

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Cabrera would double to lead off the bottom of the 4th and Frazier would walk his way to first. Adrian Gonzalez would then single, scoring Cabrera and moving Frazier to third. Gonzalez seems to be pretty quiet until the Mets need him in a big situation. He seems to always come through. 3- Nats.

Lobaton then hit into what should have been a double play, but everyone ended up being safe on a throwing error by Zimmerman. Frazier would score. 3-1 Nats.

Brandon Nimmo would be hit by the pitch to lead the bases in the 4th and clapped his hands screaming “LET’S GO!” to his teammates on the bench. Nimmo’s excitement would end with the inning when Rosario hit into a double play to end it.

The Nats would get one back in the 7th, making it 4-2 Nationals. Mets fans everywhere start to worry. It’s late in the game. The Mets are down by 2. Here we go again, letting the Nationals walk all over us.

The Mets would have no part of their fans negativity.

In the bottom of the 8th, Conforto would get things going with a leadoff single, followed by a Cespedes single, advancing Conforto to second. Cabrera singled, loading the bases. Bases loaded, no outs, go ahead runs on base.

Frazier would single to center, scoring both Conforto and Cespedes. Tie game. Cabrera ended up on third, and Frazier found himself on second, advancing on the throw home.

Pitcher Ryan Madson would intentionally walk Gonzalez.

Lagares came to the plate with the bases loaded and 2 outs in a game tied at 4. If you know Lagares, you know that there is a better chance of him getting hit by lightning at the plate than him getting a hit. remember, the Mets had enough of our negativity, so Lagares would double, scoring both Cabrera and Frazier. 6-4 Mets.

Rosario would walk to reload the bases. Conforto would walk as well, forcing in yet another Met run. 7-4 Mets. Are you ok, Madson?

With the bases still loaded, up came a struggling Cespedes. Personally, I’d take a struggling Cespedes over pretty much anyone else, any day of the week.

Cespedes would hit his 4th home run of the year, a grand slam, to break the doors off of this game. 11-4 Mets. The Mets scored 9 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning.

The Mets would win the final game of the series 11-5. Message to Nationals sent.

Next: Mets desperately need another starting pitcher

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The Mets lost their first series of the year, but the confidence they gained from it seems far more valuable.

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