Washington Nationals at New York Mets: Grapefruit League GameThread - Tanner Roark vs New York...

Through five starts this Spring, Tanner Roark has given up 12 hits and eight runs (six of them earned), walking six, striking out 12, and holding opposing hitters to a combined .207 AVG over 15 innings. Roark makes his sixth start in Grapefruit League action in the New York Mets’ Spring home tonight, when the Nationals meet their NL East rivals.

Roark faced the Mets in his last start as well, giving up four hits, three walks, and three earned runs in three innings over which he threw 75 total pitches, 39 in a long second that pushed him up to 59 after two and limited his time on the mound.

The right-hander told reporters after the outing that the home plate umpire played a role in his struggles in the long second.

“I thought I made a couple pitches; they thought otherwise,” he told reporters, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman after the outing.

“And [Mets’ hitters] were being pesky up there at the plate, fouling stuff off and taking good pitches. Hats off to them.”

Roark downplayed a velocity drop in the outing, saying the 39-pitch frame might have led to that, before adding that he “felt great” on the mound overall.

Tonight in Port St. Lucie, Florida’s First Data Field, Roark takes on the Mets again in a 6:10 PM game which is available on SNY (in the NY area) and MLB.tv everywhere else.

HERE’S THE NATS’ LINEUP FOR TONIGHT’S GAME AGAINST THE METS: