Washington Nationals salvage finale, savage New York Mets, 23-5 in D.C.: Anthony Rendon hits 3 HRs, collects 10 RBIs...

WASHINGTON, D.C.: After dropping the first two games of the their three-game set with the New York Mets, the Washington Nationals salvaged the series finale, hitting home runs all over the yard in what ended up a 23-5 win in the nation’s capital.

Anthony Rendon, who took some time to warm up this season, made up for it in one game, going 6 for 6 with three home runs, five runs scored and 10 RBIs as the Nats laid waste to Mets’ pitching, collecting 23 hits total, seven of them home runs and cruising to an 18-run victory that left them 17-8 on the season.

Nationals now 17-8

Old Quick Game Story Before It Got Ridiculous... Just For Fun:

WASHINGTON, D.C.: New York Mets’ right-hander Noah Syndergaard started the finale of the three-game series against the Washington Nationals in D.C. with streaks of 133 batters faced without allowing a home run and 32 innings pitched without allowing a walk.

Syndergaard took the mound with a 1.73 ERA, 0.80 FIP, 30 Ks (10.38 K/9) and a stingy .226/.235/.300 line in 26 IP on the year.

His streak of innings pitched without a walk ended in the first, when Bryce Harper took a four-pitch free pass, and the Nats piled on five runs in the home-half of the inning.

Syndergaard, who reportedly declined/refused to have an MRI on his right arm after suffering from biceps tendinitis recently, reacted in pain after throwing a strike to Bryce Harper in the second, and was immediately lifted from the game 1 ¹⁄₃ innings and 38 pitches in, with what was later described as a “possible right lat strain”.

The injury to the Mets’ starter would have been the big news of the day if it wasn’t for Anthony Rendon.

The Mets battled back to get within one after three and a half, 6-5 but with a four-run fourth for the Nationals, which included Anthony Rendon’s second homer of the game, Washington went up 10-5 in what ended up being a ridiculous 23-5 win.

Rendon finished the game 6 for 6 with an RBI single, two doubles, three home runs, five runs scored and 10 RBIs. Not a bad day’s work.

Nationals now 17-8

Here’s how it happened:

• Jose Reyes sent a one-out grounder by Ryan Zimmerman at first base and all the way into the right field corner for a triple in the top of the first, and Jay Bruce lined a 2-1 sinker from Joe Ross to right for an RBI single to make it 1-0 Mets early.

• Jayson Werth lined a single into the right-center gap with one down in the Nationals’ half of the first, took second on a walk to Bryce Harper and scored on an RBI single up the middle by Ryan Zimmerman that tied things up in quick fashion, 1-1.

• With two out in the bottom of the first, Anthony Rendon stepped in with runners on second and third, after a wild pitch, and sent a two-out, two-run single to left for a 3-1 lead, then scored himself on a single to center by Michael A. Taylor, whose fourth hit in the last two games made it 4-1 Nats.

• Syndergaard walked Matt Wieters to get to Joe Ross with two on and two out and the Nats’ starter singled to left field on a 99 mph 1-1 sinker, 5-1 Nationals when Michael A. Taylor scored.

• Joe Ross left a 1-1 slider up for Mets’ catcher Rene Rivera in the second and Rivera hit it out to left field for a solo shot, his first of the season, 5-2.

• Jay Bruce hammered a 1-1 sinker from Ross in the third, sending the second home run of the game out to left-center field to get the Mets within two, 5-3.

• Anthony Rendon got in on the home run action in the Nationals’ half of the third, hitting a 2-1 changeup from Sean Gilmartin to deeeeeep left field, just a few rows short of the concourse, 6-3 Nationals. Rendon’s 1st of 2017.

• Ross retired the first two batters he faced in the fourth, but the Mets’ 8-9 hitters, Matt Reynolds and pitcher Sean Gilmartin, connected for a two-out single and double, respectively, with Reynolds scoring on Gilmartin’s hit, and Michael Conforto drove in run No. 5 for the Mets, in what was suddenly a one-run game, 6-5.

• Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper hit back-to-back singles off Gilmartin in the bottom of the fourth though, and Ryan Zimmerman’s sac fly brought Werth in, 7-5.

• Daniel Murphy’s grounder to right was the third hit of the fourth inning, and Anthony Rendon stepped in next and hit his second home run of the game and season on a 1-1 slider, putting the Nats up by five, 10-5.

• Anthony Rendon (3 for 3, RBI single, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs) stepped got a bases-loaded two out at bat in the fifth, after a Trea Turner double, Bryce Harper walk and Daniel Murphy intentional pass, and hit a base-clearing double off the out-of-town scoreboard to make it a 13-5 game in the Nationals’ favor.

• Joe Ross’s Line: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 Ks, 2 HRs, 76P ,50 S, 3/1 GO/FO.

• Matt Albers tossed two scoreless on 31 pitches after Ross gave up runs in each of his four innings, and Matt Wieters added to the fun with a solo home run of his own on a 2-1 fastball from Josh Smoker. Wieters’ 3rd, 14-5.

• Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy hit back-to-back doubles off Smoker in the seventh with Murphy’s driving Zim in for a 15-5 lead.

Anthony Rendon singled for his fifth hit of the game, and Jose Reyes booted a ground ball to let Zimmerman in for run No. 16 of the game, 16-5, and 19-5 on Matt Wieters’ second home run of the game and fourth of the season.

• Bryce Harper and Adam Lind added a home runs and Anthony Rendon hit another, we can’t keep up anymore. 6 for 6, 3 HRs, 10 RBI’s for Rendon...

Nationals now 17-8

NATIONALS PREGAME NOTES:

• New York’s wins in the first two games of the three-game set in D.C. has them 106-120 in the all-time series with Washington, but the Nationals are 38-24 against the Mets since the start of the 2014 campaign.
• Washington’s 16-8 record through 24 games is the National League’s best and the second-best start in franchise history.
• Ryan Zimmerman starts the finale with the Mets leading the majors in AVG (.410), SLG (.892), OPS (1.347), HRs (11, tied 1st) and extra base hits (18, tied 1st).
• Washington, as a team, leads the majors in runs scored going into today’s game (147), AVG (.284), OBP (.359), SLG (.481), and doubles (54).
• In today’s “Fun with Arbitrary End Points” segment: Trea Turner is 16 for 38 (.421 AVG) with five doubles, a triple, two home runs and 14 runs scored... in the last eight games.
• Noah Syndergaard started the day with a streak of 133 batters faced without surrendering a home run, which stretched back to last September 19th.
• Syndergaard also had a streak of 32 IP without allowing a walk.
• New York’s 35 home runs in April are the most the team has ever hit in April, and they’ve hit 21 home runs in their last 14 games in Nationals Park. They hit a lot of home runs.

Nationals now 17-8