Washington Nationals’ lineup for 2nd of 3 with the New York Mets in Citi Field

The New York Mets’ laundry list of injuries is borderline ridiculous at this point. That’s not the Washington Nationals’ problem, however.

The Nationals took the series opener in Citi Field against a depleted Mets’ roster, and it took extra innings to get it done, as Terry Collins and his team fought till the end.

“The Mets have a good team,” Dusty Baker told reporters after the Nationals’ 4-3 win.

“They’ve got a lot of pride, they just went to the World Series a couple years ago and they still feel that they’ve got a great chance to win, which they do, so you could tell, you could tell that they were determined over there. That would have been a big win for them, to play short, and [Zack] Wheeler gets a pinch hit. They didn’t use [Asdrubal] Cabrera and then they pinch ran for him, and you could tell something was wrong.

“They didn’t use [Yoenis] Cespedes. It didn’t take you very long to see that they were banged up and in trouble but nobody gives you any sympathy in this game and you just have to take advantage of it.”

Baker said the Nationals weren’t exactly 100% either coming off a three-game sweep of the Braves in Atlanta and a late flight to New York, but they were able to outlast a determined Mets team and win their fifth straight overall.

“That was a big one for us to win,” the Nationals’ skipper said, “and boy, the longer that game went, the harder it was, because we were operating on fumes.

“That’s the one thing that you didn’t want, was an extra-inning game tonight, because we had low energy, but the guys kept pushing and pushing, that’s what the guys were all telling each other, just keep pushing and good things can happen and did for us tonight.”

Both teams are right back at it this afternoon, however, with Gio Gonzalez on the hill in Citi Field against Jacob deGrom, whose planned outing last night was pushed back due to a stiff neck that kept him off the mound.

Today’s game starts at 4:05 PM EDT in New York (weather permitting).

Here’s the Nationals’ lineup that will take on deGrom:

[ed. note - “Hmmm, Trea Turner’s back, but not leading off. Who was it that was asking about that sort of thing the other day?”]