The first play of the game was the theme of the New York Mets‘ miserable 7-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. Josh Harrison’s leadoff single was misplayed by Michael Conforto in right field and rolled all the way to the wall. On the error, Harrison made it all the way to third base. Yadiel Hernandez drove him in with a sacrifice fly and four pitches into the game; the Nats had a 1-0 lead. They never looked back by scoring in each of the first five innings.
Coach @Lindor12BC. ? pic.twitter.com/fHlVuSC7Tx
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 24, 2021
It was clear that Marcus Stroman did not have his best stuff from the beginning and received little help from home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso. The smaller zone forced Stroman to work up and throw only 43 strikes in 72 pitches. Stroman also failed to get the soft contact he recorded in his first three starts. He allowed eight singles which resulted in five runs, and only lasted four innings.
Bullpen Help
Stephen Tarpley provided no relief by allowing two runs and all four batters he faced to reach base in his Mets debut. Robert Gsellman‘s effort in relief will be overlooked, but he saved the bullpen from wasting arms. He threw three hitless innings and only allowed a walk. Gsellman was on his way out of the Mets bullpen but proved his worth in his long relief appearance.
The Mets offense struggled to figure out Nationals starter Joe Ross. He bounced back from a 10-run outing against the St. Louis Cardinals to hold the Mets to a Michael Conforto solo-home run in six innings. Pete Alonso recorded two singles as he starts to get into his groove after a small slump to begin the season. The loss drops the Mets back to 8-8, and they could be joined in first place by the Philadelphia Phillies.
The rubber game of the series sends two former Diamondbacks teammates to the mound in Patrick Corbin and Taijuan Walker. The first pitch for the Sunday afternoon game is 1:10 p.m. ET from Citi Field.