The Mets lost to the Washington Nationals on Monday night, 3-2.
Here are the key takeaways…
– New York struck first with a run in the top of the first inning against Patrick Corbin thanks to a Tommy Pham two-out single that brought home Starling Marte who singled and stole second base, his second swiped bag of the spring.
– In the bottom half of the inning, the Nationals evened the score against Justin Verlander. After Lane Thomas walked to start the inning, former Met Dominic Smith singled to center field to put Washington in business. Jeimer Candelario then popped out before Corey Dickerson lined a double to right field that tied the game. The three-time Cy Young Award winner got out of the inning with a groundout and a strikeout to limit the damage.
– Batting sixth and playing first base, Mark Vientos doubled to lead off the second inning and moved over to third base with less than two outs on Omar Narvaez‘s groundout. However, he was stranded on third after Francisco Alvarez struck out and Team Locastro lined out.
Vientos went 1-for-3 while Alvarez, who was DHing, went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts as his struggles at the plate continued. Brett Baty pinch-hit for Alvarez in the seventh inning and also struck out.
– Back with the Mets after spending time with Team Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic, Francisco Lindor singled in the third. He finished 1-for-3. Eduardo Escobar also returned to camp following Team Venezuela’s loss to Team USA in the semi-finals of the WBC and went 0-for-4.
– Verlander found his footing after the first inning and mowed down Washington’s lineup — aside from another leadoff walk to Thomas in the third — up until the fifth inning. That’s when Verlander lost his control.
After walking the first two batters of the inning, Verlander got the next two hitters out, but he couldn’t finish the job and walked the next two to force in a run and end his night. He went 4.2 innings and gave up two earned runs on two hits and six walks while striking out three.
– In the seventh inning, John Curtiss allowed a run by walking two and giving up a hit in 0.2 innings of work and left with the bases loaded. Nathan Lavender got the final out of the inning, getting Luis Garcia to strike out.
– Drew Smith pitched the eighth and struck out all three batters he faced.
Highlights
What’s next
Spring training rolls on as the Mets host the Houston Astros on Wednesday, March 22 at 1:10 pm