Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets: Game 1 – MLB Post Game Analysis
The Washington Nationals gained a one-game lead against the New York Mets in the four-game series at Citi Field in New York after a 3-2 victory over the Mets on Monday, September 12 to bring life to the otherwise insignificant series.
The Mets and the Nationals have locked horns for a third-place battle in the National League Central where the latter currently face a three-game deficit from the former. A series win might take the Nationals to third and give them a boost in confidence
for a better showing in the next season. However, a loss in this series might as well push them to the bottom of the division as they lead the Florida Marlins by just 1.5 games.
The pitchers had the most of the say in this game, restricting the flow of runs for the first four innings. The Nationals got their first run on the board in the fifth inning when Jayson Werth completed his run before Ryan Zimmerman doubled the lead for
the Nationals in the sixth inning to take the pressure on the home side.
Werth had a joyful night at Citi Field, going 3-for-4 to boost his batting average to .233 for the season. He has proved himself to be a utility player but needs to find consistency to become a threat on the plate.
Zimmerman, on the other hand, produced two hits in four at-bats to inch closer to the .300 batting average. He is currently stationed at .294 for the season and needs to find a more consistent hitting technique for the next season to subsequently reduce
the vacuum between Nationals and the league-leading teams.
It was Stephen Lombardozzi, however, who produced the winning run for Washington in the seventh inning to give them their 68th win of the season. The Nationals have been a disappointment on road encounters but this game turned out to be different
in the end.
Lombardozzi, with a batting average of just .063, was never expected to produce the winner for the Nationals in a crunch situation. However, defying all odds, Washington’s second baseman singled to left-field to allow Brian Bixler a run in the seventh inning
and subsequently give the Nationals a one-run advantage over the home side.
Lombardozzi was 0-for-15 in his first week at the Majors but was relieved to finally connect one in his 16th at-bat, that too in a crucial situation. His team-mates played a prank after the game, handing him the ball with “0 for 15 now 1 for 16”
written on it. He expressed his emotions after the game, saying that he took a deep breath after connecting the hit.
Washington’s manager Davey Johnson also praised Lombardozzi’s hit, saying that it was a decent way to bring up his first hit at the professional level.
Mets’ manager Terry Collins was quick to shun talks about his team’s dreary performance in the game and attributed the loss to the confusion created by MLB. Collins said that the decision of MLB not to allow his team to wear the caps of emergency-service
workers distracted their attention from the game and the team could not prepare properly for the game.
The Mets would have wanted R.A. Dickey to extend his winning-streak to four games but lost the game even though he leaked just three runs.
Mets will now want to focus on the game and try to level the series after the next game on Tuesday, September 13.
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