Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets Pick & Prediction SEPTEMBER 18th 2024
Preview and Prediction
The New York Mets discovered on Tuesday evening that attempting to secure victories without Francisco Lindor is significantly simpler when classic Pete Alonso makes an appearance.
The Mets will strive to continue strengthening their position in the National League wild-card race by wrapping up a sweep of the Washington Nationals, who are visiting from out of town, on Wednesday night. This will be the final game of a three-game series between the NL East rivals.
Jose Quintana (9-9, 3.91 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for the Mets, while fellow left-hander DJ Herz (4-7, 3.70 ERA) will start for the Nationals.
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Alonso hit a home run and ended the game with five RBIs on Tuesday as the Mets cruised to a 10-1 victory.
The one-sided win was just one part of a successful evening for the Mets (83-68), who extended their lead over the Atlanta Braves in the race for the third and final NL wild card to two games, following the Braves' 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
New York also caught up with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second wild card spot, thanks to the Diamondbacks' 8-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies. The Mets hold the tiebreaker against Arizona, having won the season series 4-3.
The most positive news for the Mets may have been the long-awaited breakout performance from Alonso, who had not recorded more than two RBIs in a game since August 14. In the following 30 games, he hit .226 with six home runs, 13 RBIs, and 40 strikeouts in 106 at-bats.
Alonso was 4-for-11 in the last three games, but had not hit an extra base hit in that span, during which the Mets only scored seven runs while Lindor was limited to one inning due to a sore back. However, with Lindor watching from the bench once again on Tuesday, Alonso hit a two-run single in the fourth inning before smashing a 375-foot, three-run homer in the sixth.
Alonso now has 33 home runs and 86 RBIs. Apart from the shortened 2020 season, he has never finished with fewer than 37 home runs or 94 RBIs in a season.
"He's the type of player and hitter who can carry a team and cause damage," said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. "He has the ability to get RBIs. Today was a good game for him."
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The Nationals (68-83) continued their frustrating series, and will finish with a losing record for the fifth consecutive season since winning the 2019 World Series. On Monday, they lost their 1-0 lead in the eighth inning and fell 2-1 in 10 innings.
Rookie James Wood gave the Nationals a brief lead by beating out a potential double play ball in the fourth inning on Tuesday, allowing a run to score and giving them a 1-0 lead. However, the first five Mets batters reached base in the bottom of the frame, leading to a four-run inning.
"Obviously, that's not how we wanted this game to go," Wood said. "But we have to learn from it and take it into tomorrow and be better."
Quintana earned the win in his last start on Friday, when he pitched seven scoreless innings in the Mets' 11-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. He has a 3-1 record with a 2.25 ERA in seven career starts against the Nationals, including a 1-0 record with 14 scoreless innings in two starts this season.
Herz also earned the win on Friday, allowing just one run in five innings in the Nationals' 4-1 victory over the Miami Marlins. The rookie made his major league debut against the Mets on June 4 and has a 0-1 record with a 4.66 ERA in two starts against them.
Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets Recap JUL 30TH 2023
Riley Adams had three RBIs Saturday night for the visiting Washington Nationals, who beat New York 11-6 during a game in which the Mets dealt Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers.
The Mets traded Scherzer and more than $35 million to the Rangers for Double-A prospect Luisangel Acuna, the brother of Atlanta Braves All-Star Ronald Acuna Jr. Scherzer also agreed to exercise his $43.3 million option for 2024.
Dominic Smith, Joey Meneses and Stone Garrett finished with two RBIs apiece for the Nationals, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Jeimer Candelario had an RBI double while Lane Thomas had a run-scoring single.
Patrick Corbin (7-11) allowed four runs on six hits and no walks while striking out two over 5 2/3 innings.
Mark Vientos hit a homer and had two RBIs for the Mets, who won 101 games last season but have been below .500 every day since June 6. Francisco Lindor hit a two-run homer while Tommy Pham and Francisco Alvarez had a solo shot apiece.
Carlos Carrasco (3-5) gave up eight runs (six earned) on eight hits and one walk while striking out two over 2 1/3 innings.
Washington scored four times in the first against Carrasco. Meneses opened the scoring with an RBI single and Smith delivered a bloop two-run single before Garrett's sacrifice fly.
Alex Call led off the second with a single and scored on Candelario's two-out double. Mark Canha singled with one out in the bottom half and scored on Vientos' hit.
The Nationals chased Carrasco in the third, when Garcia led off with a single and stole second. Carrasco walked Garrett with one out before Adams ended the right-hander's night with a two-RBI double. Thomas then added a two-out RBI single against Reed Garrett.
Pham homered leading off the fourth. Brandon Nimmo was hit by a pitch with two outs in the fifth before Lindor went deep.
Meneses had another RBI single in the ninth, when Stone Garrett legged out an infield RBI single and Adams hit a run-scoring double.
Alvarez and Vientos went back-to-back leading off the bottom of the ninth.