Taijuan Walker Throws Seven Scoreless, Mets Win Series Against Nationals

It was another series win for the Mets as they took the rubber match on Thursday afternoon against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. The Mets have gone 10 series without losing any—nine wins, one split—and sit 6.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East with a 22-11 record.

Here’s a breakdown and highlights from the three games:

Carlos Carrasco continued his dominant start to the season, recording his third win after finishing the game with 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, and no walks.

The Mets trailed by two going into the sixth inning, but a string of singles by Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis and a walk to Eduardo Escobar loaded the bases for Jeff McNeil. The Squirrel stayed hot at the plate, ripping a two-run double down the right field line to tie the game. James McCann followed with a sacrifice fly, putting the Mets up 3-2.

Davis added an insurance run in the top of the ninth after hitting a sac fly to bring home Mark Canha.

Edwin Díaz took the mound and recorded a strikeout and forced a double play ball to end the game and get his seventh save of the young season.

In game two of the series, the bats were hot for the Mets in the top of the first inning, giving Tylor Megill a three-run lead before taking the mound. But Megill struggled early, conceding a two-run home run to Juan Soto and a few hits for five runs in the bottom of the inning.

Megill, who was the starting pitcher in the team’s combined no-hitter, gave up a three-run home run to Nelson Cruz in the bottom of the second. After walking the next batter, Megill was pulled from the game, finishing with the following stat line: 1.1 IP, 8 ER, 1 K, 1 BB.

The Nationals and Mets remained off the scoreboard for the rest of the game and Washington won 8-3.

In the rubber match on Thursday afternoon, the Mets relied heavily on starting pitcher Taijuan Walker, who was visibly dealing with discomfort on the hill. Despite that, Walker bounced back after his previous start against the Phillies in which he gave up seven runs (six earned) in four innings. Walker threw seven innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just three hits and earning his first win of the season. He only had one strikeout in the game and leaned heavily on forcing ground outs and double plays.

The Mets gave Walker the lead in the first inning after Canha hit a two-run single to center. Tomás Nido added a run in the fourth after hitting an RBI single to bring home Canha. In the ninth, Canha hit his second home run of the season to put the Mets up 4-0.

Díaz came on in the ninth after Seth Lugo sat the Nationals down in order in the eighth. Díaz struck out the first two batters before giving up a two-strike solo home run to Soto. He retired the next batter and the Mets won 4-1 to win the series 2-1.

The Mets open a seven-game homestand Friday (May 13) against the Seattle Mariners (14-18) before taking on the Cardinals (17-13) in a four-game series.

Some additional notes:

1. McCann was sidelined on May 11 and May 12 with a sore left wrist. Manager Buck Showalter said the injury is manageable.
2. Brandon Nimmo has reached base in 23 consecutive games, has an eight-game hitting streak, a .417 OBP (6th in MLB), and .861 OPS.
3. Pitcher Sean Reid-Foley underwent successful Tommy John surgery on May 11.
4. Probable starters against the Mariners are Max Scherzer (Friday, May 13), Chris Bassitt (Saturday, May 14), and Carrasco (Sunday, May 15).

(Photo: @Mets Twitter)