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Gio Gonzalez dominates in Citi Field again; Washington Nationals win sixth straight, 3-1 over New York Mets

Gio Gonzalez once again put together a solid start in Citi Field and the Nationals beat the Mets, 3-1, for their sixth straight win overall.

By Patrick Reddington
Washington Nationals v New York Mets Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Gio Gonzalez has always liked pitching in Citi Field, or at least done well in Flushing, Queens, New York.

Gonzalez, 31, took the mound this afternoon (8-1) in 13 career starts in the Mets’ home, with a 1.64 ERA and a .170/.254/.260 line against in 82 1⁄3 IP.

He threw five scoreless and hitless innings to start his outing today, retiring thirteen straight between the first and sixth, but gave up a walk and a single to the first two batters he faced in the Mets’ half of the sixth inning.

Gonzalez’s bid for a shutout ended on a one-out RBI single to center field by Asdrubal Cabrera later in the sixth, that made it 3-1 Nationals.

Matt Wieters, Trea Turner and Ryan Zimmerman drove in the Nats’ three runs early, as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead after five and held on for their second straight win over the Mets and sixth straight win overall. 3-1 final.

Nationals now 12-5

Here’s how it happened:

• After a 30-pitch first, Gio Gonzalez settled in and at the end of three hitless innings, he’d retired seven straight Mets.

• Jacob deGrom struck out seven of the first eleven batters he faced, generating high numbers of swings and misses along the way.

• deGrom walked Bryce Harper (for the second time today) in the first at bat of the Nats’ fourth, however, and a Daniel Murphy single put runners on the corners with one out.

Anthony Rendon worked the count full and walked to load’em up in front of Matt Wieters, and the veteran catcher hit a line drive to right to bring Harper in, but Daniel Murphy was out by a mile trying to score on the play. Not. Even. Close. Bad decisions. 1-0.

• Adam Eaton and Trea Turner hit back-to-back doubles to left and center, respectively with one down in the fifth, with Eaton scoring on Turner’s for a 2-0 lead. Bryce Harper got the intentionals to put two on in front of Ryan Zimmerman, who hit an RBI single to left to drive Turner in, 3-0.

• Gio Gonzalez was up to five scoreless and hitless frames and 13-straight Mets’ batters set down after a 1-2-3 fifth that left the lefty at 79 pitches overall.

• Jacob deGrom’s Line: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 10 Ks, 101 P, 65 S, 1/2 GO/FO.

• Gonzalez’s streak of retired batters ended with a leadoff walk to Jose Reyes in the Mets’ half of the sixth. His no-hit bid ended with a single to center by Juan Lagares that put two on with no one out.

One out later, Asdrubal Cabrera hit an RBI single to center to get the Mets on the board, 3-1 Nationals.

• Gio Gonzalez came back out for the seventh at 104 pitches, but was replaced on the mound by Blake Treinen after popping up left-handed hitter, Curtis Granderson.

• Gio Gonzalez’s Line: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 Ks, 107 P, 66 S, 6/4 GO/FO.

• Treinen got two outs with three pitches to end the Mets’ half of the seventh.

• Enny Romero came on in the eighth and retired the side in order in a nine-pitch frame.

• Romero came back out to face and retired Asdrubal Cabrera on three pitches, striking him out with a 99 mph 0-2 fastball. Jay Bruce popped out to shallow left for out No. 2.

Dusty Baker went to Koda Glover for the third out of the frame and he got a fly to center from Travis d’Arnaud to end the game.

NATIONALS PREGAME NOTES:

  • In today’s “Fun with Arbitrary End Points” segment: With last night’s win, Washington improved to 36-22 against the New York Mets... since 2014.
  • New York still holds a 118-104 advantage over Washington in the all-time series between the NL East rivals. (2005-present).
  • The Mets started the night with losses in six of their last seven games.
  • Bryce Harper started the night with a .407/.521/.864 line on the year, leading all MLB hitters in AVG and OBP, tied for first in RBIs (20), and tied for second in HRs (7) and hits (24).
  • The Nationals, as a team, started the day leading the majors in OBP (.348), OPS (.811) and doubles (38), with the second-highest AVG (.285) and SLG (.462).
  • Washington also has the highest AVG (.452), OBP (.529) and SLG (.762) in the majors against left-handed pitchers... though they were facing a right-handed starter.
  • Nationals’ lefty Gio Gonzalez took the mound tonight looking to continue a stretch of nine consecutive quality starts by Nats’ starters.
  • Gonzalez started the night (8-1) in 13 career starts in NY (NL) with a 1.64 ERA and a .170/.254/.260 line against in 82 1⁄3 IP in Citi Field.

Nationals now 12-5

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