Mets unable to pull off four-game sweep of Nationals
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 10: Chasen Shreve #43 of the New York Mets pitches in the sixth inning during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at the Nationals Park on April 10, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images/Mitchell Layton
WASHINGTON — Buck Showalter accomplished what he characterized Sunday morning as “my big goal today,” but it came at a significant cost to the Mets.
The Nationals won, 4-2, after rallying for three runs in the eighth inning against lefthander Chasen Shreve and righthander Trevor Williams, the last members of the Mets’ Opening Day roster to appear in a game.
Showalter badly wanted to get them action in the series finale, and he did so by using them to try to bridge the gap between starter Carlos Carrasco and a would-be closer-to-be-named on a day when the bullpen was missing multiple high-leverage relievers, including Edwin Diaz (bereavement list).
Nelson Cruz had the go-ahead two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. The Mets suffered their first loss of the season, missing their chance for a four-game sweep.
“Can’t let them go four, five, six, seven days without using them,” Showalter said of Shreve, who threw 22 pitches in the sixth, seventh and eighth, and Williams, a bullpen neophyte who was set up as a long reliever during spring training. “No, they pitched well. Both of them. I know it’s a results-oriented business, but you look at the type of balls they gave up and the job that Chasen did — and really Trevor — real happy with it.”
Did the circumstances of a one-run game lead Showalter to reconsider his plan?
“And go to who?” he said. “Some guys were unavailable today. I don’t know if unavailable is the word. I wasn’t going to use them. We’re too early in the season to be throwing guys three out of four days.”
Showalter declined to name which relievers he wanted to stay away from. His three-times-in-four-days preference would have ruled out Seth Lugo and Adam Ottavino.
Trevor May, who warmed up but did not enter in the seventh, said he was available. Lugo said he was available if the Mets had a lead. Ottavino said there was “no reason to be” unavailable this early in the season.
The game-deciding rally wasn’t pretty, and it included at least one misplay by first baseman Pete Alonso.
Yadiel Hernandez led off with a single against Shreve. Maikel Franco’s single against Williams moved pinch runner Dee Strange-Gordon to third.
Lucius Fox, making his major-league debut, tied it at 2 when he brought in Strange-Gordon with a squeeze bunt fielded by Alonso, whose underhand throw to the plate was too slow.
Showalter and Alonso had different views of that sequence.
“He had a little trouble getting it out of his glove,” Showalter said. “He’s probably out if [Alonso] gets it out clean . . . Pete will make that play more times than not.”
Alonso, explaining that he didn’t throw overhand because it would have been too fast in too short of a distance, said: “I thought everything was clean, or at least it felt clean. Dee Gordon is one of the fastest players in the league. He had a good break on it. Bang-bang play. Sometimes even though it’s well-defended, you have to tip your hat to the baserunner.”
After Victor Robles lined a bunt to Williams for an out, the ball found Alonso again the next two plays.
Cesar Hernandez sent a ground ball Alonso’s way, but his throw to second base for an attempted forceout was wide, pulling shortstop Francisco Lindor off the bag and loading the bases.
“I just missed the throw. Don’t know why,” Alonso said. “My feet were set. I fielded the ground ball cleanly. There was no rush. There was no need to rush. I felt like I was calm, cool and collected. I just missed a throw. As a result, that put the team in a really bad hole.”
Alonso somewhat redeemed himself by smoothly fielding Juan Soto’s grounder and throwing home for an out, keeping the score tied. But Cruz followed with a two-run single to put the Nationals ahead.
“Being a big-league pitcher, you have to have that mentality of: So what? Next pitch,” Williams said. “It was a good learning moment today. I feel like I’m capable when called upon to have a high-leverage spot.”
Carrasco held Washington to one run in 5 2⁄3 innings in his season debut, yielding only Cruz’s solo homer. His opponent, Erick Fedde, allowed two runs in five innings, becoming the first Nationals pitcher in four games to last that long. Both runs came in the fourth, when Lindor launched a home run and Mark Canha’s RBI single drove in Eduardo Escobar (two-out double).
The Mets had two on and nobody out in the seventh, but Sean Doolittle struck out Brandon Nimmo and Robinson Cano to escape the jam.
“We had some opportunities we didn’t cash in on,” Showalter said.
The Mets still managed to go 3-1 in their season-opening series.
“It’s good to win the first series of the year,” Alonso said, “but dropping this one late kind of stinks.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
