New York Mets defeat Washington Nationals 8-5 – MLB Update
New York Mets put in a brilliant performance as they defeated the Washington Nationals 8-5 on Friday, July 29 at Nationals Park in Washington D.C.
The resurgent Mets played extraordinarily well to lay a solid foundation for the three-game series.
Mets’ success assumed significance due partly to Carlos Beltran’s departure. The victory also brought the Mets closer to the Atlanta Braves in the NL standings, with being only six wins away now.
"We've had a lot of distractions and a lot of guys go down," Bay said, "Then you look back and we've won five straight and it's kind of like wow, why not. I don't know how far out we are, but I'd imagine we're getting a little closer."
The otherwise illuminating ace of the Nationals, Chien-Ming, was subject to big hits in the very first inning that was suggestive of the Mets’ having a different outlook for the game. When Chien-Ming came on the mound, he had big hitters to face.
First was Daniel Murphy who singled to right to give the Mets a 1-0 lead followed by Angel Pagan’s single that doubled the lead followed by Jason Bay and Lucas Duda’s individual singles, taking up the Mets’ lead to 4-0 at the end of the first inning.
"Our guys have realized that nobody in this league is going to feel sorry for you just because you lost Carlos Beltran," manager Terry Collins said. "They got to go play and not worry about stuff we can't control, trades and everything else. All you're going
to do is get beat.”
The rest was left to Dillon Gee, the Mets’ starter who’s strong and effective pitches he tossed remained beyond play, underscoring the fact that New York had complete determination to not allow the Nationals any easy ride in the game.
Gee and Jose Reyes drove in RBI singles in the fourth inning to take the lead to 6-0. Gee, allowed a couple of hits and two runs to Laynce Nix which brought the lead down to 6-2.
While the Nationals’ Tom Gorzelanny tossed a scoreless fifth Rick Ankiel was able to score an RBI single against Gee only to be followed by big hits of Ronny Paulino and Reyes in the sixth inning, taking the lead to 8-3 for the Mets.
Gee entered into the seventh inning with an 8-3 lead for the Mets, when Bobby Parnell replaced him in the eight, allowing two runs to Wilson Ramos and Rick Ankiel, bringing the lead down to 8-5. However, the Mets did not give up.
Jason Isringhausen functioned as a perfect closer to pitch a shut-out ninth to conclude the game with an 8-5 score for the New York Mets against a somewhat straining Washington Nationals.
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