Juan Soto’s two home runs not enough, Mets’ bullpen falters in 8-4 loss to Nationals

Posted on by GoalVerseNews

The Mets found themselves in an early hole and didn’t have enough offense on Wednesday night, falling 8-4 to the Washington Nationals.

Here are the takeaways…

— Zach Thornton had a rough start to his MLB debut, letting up a three-run home run to CJ Abrams on a cutter he left over the middle. The left-hander was able to settle down and get the next two outs, including his first career strikeout.

A walk by Thornton and a throwing error by Hayden Senger gave the the Nats a runner on third with one away, as Keibert Ruiz took advantage with a single to push the lead to 4-1. Thornton got some help from Carson Benge on a catch against the wall to rob extra bases from James Wood and then recorded his second strikeout on his 58th pitch of the night. Luckily, the 24-year-old got in a groove and tossed two straight 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth, retiring eight straight.

Thornton’s debut came to an end in the fifth inning after giving up a double to Ruiz and getting Wood to fly out. The lefty, who’s Joe DeMayo’s No. 13 overall prospect in the Mets’ system, allowed four runs on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk over 4.1 IP (80 pitches). 

— Mark Vientos got the offense going in the second inning with a leadoff double that took a funny bounce down the left field line. He advanced to third on a fly out and then scored on Brett Baty‘s single to right field, cutting Washington’s lead to 3-1. A.J. Ewing recorded the team’s third hit of the inning to make it a first-and-third situation for Sengerwith two outs, but the backup catcher went down swinging to end the scoring chance.

— After coming close to a home run in the first inning, Juan Soto made sure he got enough of it in the top of the third inning. The solo homer, his second of the series and eighth of the year, smacked off the deck in right field and made it a 4-2 game.

Soto stayed hot and launched two-run blast in the eighth inning to right field, cutting the Nationals lead to 6-4. It’s his 29th career multi home run game.

— Benge made another great defensively play in the bottom of the fifth, throwing out Ruiz at home to keep another run off of Thornton’s line. The perfect throw was Benge’s first career outfield assist.

— Austin Warren replaced Thornton on the mound and got through the fifth, but allowed two runs in the sixth inning. Craig Kimbrel had to come in to get the final two outs of the sixth as the Mets trailed, 6-2. He stayed through the eighth inning, retiring seven straight before things unraveled with a two-run homer to Jacob Young, making it an 8-4 game. It was the longest outing of Kimbrel’s career at 2.2 IP and 32 pitches.

Game MVP: CJ Abrams

Abrams’ three-run HR set the tone for Washington and put him in a four-way tie for the NL lead in RBI with 42.

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets and Nationals wrap up their four-game series on Thursday evening with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m. on SNY.

New York has not decided on who will be the starting pitcher, while Washington will go with RHP Cade Cavalli (2-2, 4.05 ERA).

 

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