Jeff McNeil's two-run double backs Carlos Carrasco as Mets top Nationals
Carlos Carrasco of the Mets pitches in the second inning against the Nationals at Nationals Park on Tuesday in Washington. Credit: Getty Images/Greg Fiume
WASHINGTON — Nearing the end of an important two-week stretch of schedule, 13 consecutive games against their fellow members of the NL East, the immediate group against which they must measure themselves, the Mets are — as manager Buck Showalter would say — presenting well.
They handled Philly with relative ease, taking series on back-to-back weekends, first in New York and then in Philly. In between, they split with Atlanta, which was fine. And now they get to beef up against the new cellar-dwellers: Washington.
The Mets’ 4-2 win on Tuesday, opening a three-game series that will conclude this run of intra-division action, featured another strong start from Carlos Carrasco and a huge hit from Jeff McNeil, a tying two-run double in the sixth.
The Mets are 11 games over .500 (21-10). That tops their high-water mark from last year (35-25 on June 16).
“You definitely have to take care of those division series and games, and we’ve been doing a really good job of that,” McNeil said. “So, super happy with how we’re playing. We’ve played some good teams, and we’re playing some good baseball. So we’re going to keep that up throughout the year.”
Carrasco added of facing the Nationals (10-21): “Whatever team we play out there, we have to play hard. No matter who we play. In this game, it can change so quick.”
Carrasco lasted 6 2⁄3 innings and limited the Nats to two runs and seven hits. Maikel Franco struck for an RBI double in the third, which could have been part of a bigger inning if not for third-base coach Gary DiSarcina’s aggressive send of Yadiel Hernandez to try to get a second run on the play.
DiSarcina was the Mets’ third-base coach from 2019-21.
“I’m pretty familiar with DiSar and how he coaches third, so I knew he was going to be aggressive and probably send him,” McNeil said. “Nimmy [Brandon Nimmo] threw me a strike and I happened to throw a strike home. We got him by a lot.”
That play was among the proverbial little things that Showalter praised the Mets for executing well. Also on that list: aggressive but sound baserunning, including McNeil advancing from first to second on a flyout to deep right-center; “great tags,” Showalter said; Eduardo Escobar ranging into foul territory, despite starting the play in a shift toward second, to catch Juan Soto’s pop-out in the eighth; James McCann throwing out Dee Strange-Gordon, who tried to steal second in the seventh; and Drew Smith delivering that pitch efficiently to McCann, giving him a chance to make that throw.
“I know I’m going to forget five or six things,” Showalter said.
Patrick Corbin exited after five shutout innings, and the Mets’ eventual game-winning rally came in the sixth, their first crack at the Nationals’ mediocre-at-best bullpen. They scored three runs against Carl Edwards Jr., whom the Nats thrust into a high-leverage situation hours after calling him up from Triple-A.
McNeil, batting with the bases loaded and one out, ripped a double down off the glove of first baseman Josh Bell and down the rightfield line. McCann’s sacrifice fly to right put the Mets ahead. “McCann had a great night,” Showalter said.
McNeil said: “I’m basically just trying to get one run in there. I’m not trying to do too much. The main goal there is to put the barrel on the ball and get one run in for sure and after that it was a bonus.”
Smith ran his scoreless streak to begin the season to 13 1⁄3 innings (in a dozen appearances). Lefthander Joely Rodriguez entered to face Soto, the potential go-ahead run and one of the majors’ very best lefthanded hitters, and induced that pop-up to Escobar on the first pitch, ending the eighth.
“Against a good hitter, to get him on one pitch,” Rodriguez said, “it’s super nice.”
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.
