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Washington Nationals 7-4 over New York Mets: Stephen Strasburg improves to (8-0) in 2016

Stephen Strasburg improved to (8-0) on the year after ten starts and the Washington Nationals improved to 14-0 in his last 14 outings and 21-2 in his last 23 as the Nats evened up their three-game set with the New York Mets with a 7-4 win.

By Patrick Reddington
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Stephen Strasburg started the night (7-0) in nine starts this season, with the Washington Nationals 13-0 over his last thirteen starts and 20-2 in his last twenty-two outings going back to the middle of the 2015 campaign.

Strasburg earned win No. 7 this season against the New York Mets last time out in the finale of the Nats' three-game set in Citi Field.

He faced the Nationals' NL East rivals in the nation's capital tonight, and improved to (8-0) on the season with the win, while the Nationals improved to 14-0 in his last 14 starts, 21-2 in his last 23 outings and 28-18 on the year overall.

Strasburg struck out six of the first nine batters he faced in three scoreless and hitless frames, but with one down in the top of the fourth, former Nats' infielder-for-a-minute Asdrubal Cabrera got hold of a 2-1 fastball and hit a solo home run into the right field bullpen to put the Mets up, 1-0 after three and a half.

Ryan Zimmerman tied it up with one swing in the Nationals' half of the fourth, hitting a 2-2 change out to deep left for a solo blast that tied it up at 1-1 and Anthony Rendon followed with a home run of his own, hitting a 2-1 change into the left field seats to put the Nationals ahead, 2-1.

Ben Revere and Jayson Werth doubled and singled, respectively to start the fifth, setting Bryce Harper up with an RBI opportunity he cashed with a sac fly to center that made it 3-1 and Daniel Murphy followed with a two-run blast on a 1-1 fastball that ended up in the second deck in right field. 5-1 Nationals. Murphy's 7th.

That was it for Matt Harvey: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 HRs, 84 P, 49 S, 6/4 GO/FO.

Yoenis Cespedes doubled and Neil Walker singled to put runners on first and third with no one out in the Mets' half of the seventh, and Cespedes scored on a grounder to short by Eric Campbell, 5-2 Nats.

Strasburg struck Ty Kelly out for his 11th K with a 95 mph fastball on his 108th and final pitch of the night. He left with two on and two out and Felipe Rivero struck Juan Lagares out to end the frame.

Stephen Strasburg's Line: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 Ks, 1 HR, 108 P, 74 S, 3/2 GO/FO.

Ben Revere homered for the first time this season in the Nationals' seventh to make it 6-2 Nats with the Nationals' fourth home run of the game.

Rivero came back out for a quick, 11-pitch top of the eighth and after Wilson Ramos made it 7-2 with his 5th home run of the season, Shawn Kelley gave up a two-run blast in the ninth (his first runs allowed this season) before finishing it off.

Ballgame. 7-4 Nationals.

Nationals now 28-18

• NATS NOTES:

  • New York's win last night was their fourth straight and it left them 13-10 on the road this season and it was also their fourth straight win in Washington, D.C.
  • Last night's win was also the Mets' fourth straight come-from-behind win.
  • Washington's loss last night left them 107-99 in their all-time rivalry with New York, though they've gone 25-17 vs the Mets since the start of the 2014 season.
  • With three home runs last night, the Mets have 63 total on the year through 44 games, good enough to lead the NL in homers and have them tied for second in the majors, behind only the Tampa Bay Rays (65). New York is 22-7 so far in 2016 in games in which they hit a home run.
  • Yeonis Cespedes leads the major leagues in home runs with 15 this season, and according to Elias Sports Bureau, this is the latest in a season a New York Met has led the majors in home runs since Dave Kingman led with 37 home runs on September 18, 1982.
  • Cespedes is now 8 for 18 career in four games in Nationals Park with three doubles and three home runs in the Nats' home.
  • Daniel Murphy's two hits last night gave up 22 multi-hit games this season in his first 44 games played with the Nats.
  • Murphy has also hit safely in 20 of his last 24 games, with a .404 AVG (38 for 94), seven doubles, four home runs, 19 RBIs and 15 runs scored over that stretch.
  • In today's Mets-themed "Fun with Arbitrary End Points" segment, New York shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is 6 for 10 with runners in scoring position... dating back to May 8th, with hits in six straight games.
  • In today's Nationals-themed "Fun with Arbitrary End Points" segment, Anthony Rendon is 17 for 46 (.370 AVG) with five doubles, a triple and ten walks... in his last 12 games, dating back to May 10th.
  • Tonight's Strasburg vs Harvey matchup was the fourth of their respective careers. Harvey was (2-1) in the previous four with Strasburg (1-2).
  • New York's bullpen started the night with a streak of 16 ⅓ scoreless innings going, and they lead the majors with a 2.29 ERA so far this season.
  • In today's Nationals-themed "Fun with Arbitrary End Points" segment, the Nats' bullpen has a 0.50 ERA... in the last 13 games, dating back to May 9th, and they haven't allowed a single inherited runner to score during that stretch. Felipe Rivero inherited two runners in the seventh tonight, and stranded them both.

Nationals now 28-18

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