Well, that was depressing. The Nationals have struggled all year against lefties, we know that. But David Peterson just seems to be in a class completely by himself. In two starts against the Nats this year, he’s thrown 17 innings of one-run ball. Another stat I saw last night that made my head spin was that the Nationals are now 1-13 all-time when facing Peterson. That’s a different kind of dominance; that’s ownership at the highest level.
While Jake Irvin looked good through two innings of last night’s game, the Mets got a little bit of traffic on the basepaths in both frames, but both times he managed to put up a zero, which is pretty much all we can ask, given how bad the starting pitching has been. Then, in the third inning, things took a turn for the worse.
The Mets put up a five-spot on Irvin in the top half of the third, effectively turning this game on its head. The scoring started with an RBI single by Brandon Nimmo, then Jeff McNeil doubled in two runs, followed by the big blow, a two-run homer by Mark Vientos. This inning not only put the Mets way ahead on the scoreboard, but it also ensured that Irvin would not be giving the Nats a quality start once again, as it appears MacKenzie Gore, Brad Lord, and Cade Cavalli are the only guys in this rotation who are capable of doing so.
The game remained 5-0 into the sixth inning. Jake Irvin, to his credit, at least gave the Nats six innings last night to spell a bullpen that’s been super taxed lately. His sixth inning of work began with a solo home run by Brett Baty to make this a 6-0 ballgame. Jake would get the next three guys out to finish off six innings of work.
The Mets added another one in the top of the seventh with another leadoff solo home run, this one off the bat of former National Juan Soto. At the end of the day, we are watching two contrasting styles of ownership going against each other this week, and in this one, it played out exactly as it should have. Steve Cohen, the owner of the Mets, has thrown around money like it grows on trees to build this roster. Meanwhile, the Nationals are in a long rebuild with a young roster of promising players and some added Triple-A reinforcements, and you can only hope they can compete with a team loaded with stars. What the Nats did against the Phillies showed that the Nats can compete with a true contender — when the Nats’ starting pitchers and the bullpen is up to the task. Irvin was not last night.
The Nats finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth against Peterson, who was just dominant all night. Dylan Crews led off the inning with a triple, and later scored on a double play ground ball by Brady House. That would be the first and only run of the night from the Nats.
- David Peterson: 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 1 walk, 10 strikeouts, 96 pitches
- Jake Irvin: 6 innings, 8 hits, 6 runs (6 earned), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 101 pitches
The Mets got one final run in the top of the ninth via a solo homer by Jeff McNeil to cap off a very disappointing night overall from the Nationals. The 8-1 score would hold to be the final score.
Positives from this one are few; PJ Poulin was the only Nats’ pitcher that had an outing worthy of note tonight, tossing a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Offensively, it was the newcomer, Andres Chaparro, who had a 2-2 night and a walk, the only multi-hit performance in the Nationals’ lineup in this one. Crews and Young added key hits and defense. Other than that, it was a late hit by Paul DeJong that put the 5th and final hit on the board for the Nats as the James Wood was 0-4 with 3 Ks, and CJ Abrams put four balls in play with none falling for hits. What does TalkNats say, the Nats go as their starting pitcher and Wood goes.
The series will resume tonight at 6:45, and the Nats will be sending Brad Lord (3-6, 3.26 ERA) to the mound in hopes that he can continue what is turning into a legitimate bid for Rookie of the Year candidacy. He will be facing a righty (Praise God), Kodai Senga (7-4, 2.35 ERA). Here’s hoping Miguel Cairo can get the guys he sat last night back in the lineup for this one, as I will never feel good about sitting Garcia, Lile, Hassell, and Millas, no matter who is pitching against us.
