Taylor Jordan stood on the mound in Nationals Park facing home, legs bent slightly, shoulder-width apart, and fired three straight balls to New York Mets' leadoff man Eric Young before finding the strike zone for the first time today with his fourth pitch of the game. Young squared to bunt and took strike two, and flew out to left on a full-count fastball from the Washington Nationals' 24-year-old starter. NY third baseman Josh Satin took a 2-2 slider for a called strike three and out no.2 of the opening frame, and Daniel Murphy sliced a liner to left that curved back and right into Nats' left fielder Bryce Harper's glove for out no.3 of an 18-pitch, 1-2-3 inning.
New York Mets' right-hander Carlos Torres gave up a two-out bloop single to center by Ryan Zimmerman that Juan Lagares dove for but missed, but Adam LaRoche flew out to left field to end the bottom of the first in the Sunday finale of the the four-game weekend series in the nation's capital.
Marlon Byrd K'd swinging at a 1-2 slider to start the top of the second. Ike Davis rolled over a full-count change and sent a weak grounder out to Anthony Rendon at second base and John Buck took the first pitch he saw out to right for the sixth-straight out recorded by Taylor Jordan to start today's game. 29 pitches in two scoreless.
Ian Desmond took an 0-1 cutter from Carlos Torres to right and off the base of the out-of-town scoreboard for his 26th double of the year with one down in the Nationals' second. Desmond retreated to the bag when Denard Span sent a sharp grounder toward short, but was able to take third when Span's hit got by Mets' shortstop Omar Quintanilla. Wilson Ramos stepped in with runners on the corners and sliced an opposite field single to right-center that brought Ian Desmond home to make it 1-0 Nationals early. Taylor Jordan successfully bunted both Ramos and Span into scoring position/gave up an out to bring Bryce Harper up with two on and two out, and Harper sliced an opposite field single to left on a full-count cutter from Torres to bring both runners in and make it 3-0 Nationals after two.
Juan Lagares flew out to left on an 0-1 slider from Taylor Jordan. Omar Quintanilla took a 2-2 change for a called strike three and out no.2 and Carlos Torres flew to right on the first pitch he saw to end Taylor Jordan's third straight 1-2-3 inning after eight pitches with the Nats' right-hander at 37 overall. 9 up, 9 down. 3-0 Nationals.
Ryan Zimmerman doubled to the left field corner to start the Nationals' third. One out later, Jayson Werth worked the count full and walked in front of Ian Desmond, whose RBI single to right left him 2 for 2 this afternoon and brought Zimmerman in from second for a 4-0 Nats' lead. Denard Span singled to center to load the bases for Wilson Ramos with one out and the Nats' catcher hit his first career grand slam into the left field bullpen on a 2-1 fastball. 8-0 Nats after three on HR no. 6 of 2013 for Ramos.
Eric Young lined 1-2 fastball to left for a leadoff single that broke up Taylor Jordan's nascent no-hit bid in the top of the fourth. Josh Satin took a 2-2 slider for a called strike three and the first out of the Mets' fourth. Daniel Murphy grounded sharply to first where Adam LaRoche made a nice play to get out no.2, but his throw to second was too late to get Eric Young for the double play, so Marlon Byrd's single to center brought Young and the Mets' first run in, 8-1 Nationals. Ike Davis hit a broken bat single to right with two down, but John Buck K'd swinging to end the top of the fourth after 20 pitches from Taylor Jordan, who was at 57 overall after four.
Anthony Rendon was 0 for 2 today and 2 for 34 overall in his last nine games before singling to left off Mets' right-hander Gonzalez Germen to start the Nationals' fourth. Ryan Zimmerman was 3 for 3 today after he singled in the next at bat. Adam LaRoche grounded into a double play for the first two outs of the inning, however, leaving Rendon at third with two down before a Jayson Werth single to right drove him in to make it 9-1 Nats. Ian Desmond walked with two down to bring Denard Span up and his RBI single made it 10-1, but Desmond got caught off second and tagged in an 8-5-6-3 inning-ending putout.
Omar Quintanilla lined a 2-2 change to left for a one-out single in the top of the fifth, but Taylor Jordan got a swinging K from the opposing pitcher with an 0-2 slider before he walked Eric Young to put two on with two out. Josh Satin stepped in with two runners on, but went down swinging as the Nats' starter recorded his career-high seventh K and finished his fifth inning of work at 77 pitches total after a 20-pitch frame.
Taylor Jordan has career-best 7 strikeouts through the first 5.0 innings. #Nationals lead, 10-1.
— Nationals PR (@NationalsPR) July 28, 2013
Taylor Jordan grounded to third with one down in the Nats' fifth, but an error by Mets' third baseman Josh Satin cost Gonzalez Germen an out. Bryce Harper flew to left for out no.2 and Anthony Rendon flew to center to end the bottom of the fifth inning with the score still 10-1 Nationals.
Anthony Rendon showed off the range and made a fairly spectacular across-the-body throw from behind second base to get Daniel Murphy for the first out of the Mets' sixth. Marlon Byrd doubled off the scoreboard in right for the Mets' fifth hit of the game off the Nationals' starter, bringing Davey Johnson out to the mound for a chat, but the Nats' skipper left his right-hander in to face Ike Davis. Davis lined to center for out no.2 and John Buck popped up to Ian Desmond in short left for the third and final out of Jordan's 10-pitch sixth, which had him up to 87 pitches overall. Still 10-1 Nats. Jayson Werth single to right with two down in the Nationals' sixth, took second on a wild pitch from Mets' right-hander David Aardsma and third on a passed ball before scoring on Desmond's third hit in three at bats. 11-1 Nationals. Denard Span got hold of a 1-0 fastball in the next at bat and hit his second home run in two day over the out-of-town scoreboard in right to make it 13-1 Nationals after six.
• Taylor Jordan's line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks, 87 P, 55 S, 3/3 GO/FO.
Craig Stammen took over in the top of the seventh and gave up a leadoff single to right by Juan Lagares. Two outs later Lagares moved up to second when Eric Young walked and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Josh Satin worked the count full and walked to load the bases, but a fly to left by Daniel Murphy ended the top of the seventh. Josh Edgin took over for New York in the bottom of the inning. Roger Bernadina K'd swinging. Scott Hairston flew to center. Anthony Rendon flew to right. On to the eighth.
Ian Krol started the eighth for the Nationals. Justin Turner grounded back to the mound for out no2. Ike Davis took an arching 1-2 curve for a called strike three and out no.2. John Buck grounded out to short to end a 17-pitch inning for the Nats' left-hander. Still 13-1 Nationals. Bobby Parnell came out for some work in the bottom of the eighth. Steve Lombardozzi singled and scored two outs later to make it 14-1 when Ian Desmond doubled to right for his 27th two-base hit of the year and a 13-run lead after eight innings in D.C.
Ryan Mattheus gave up back-to-back singles by Juan Lagares and Omar Quintanilla to put runners on first and third to start the top of the ninth. A passed ball moved Quintanilla to second and a base-loading walk to Mets' outfielder Andrew Brown ended a quick outing for Mattheus. Fernando Abad came on with the bases loaded. Eric Young popped up to Steve Lombardozzi behind second. Josh Satin flew to short center for out no.2. Pinch hitter Anthony Recker worked the count full... and flew to right to end it. Ballgame. 14-1 final.
Nationals now 52-54