Washington Nationals blow another lead, lose sixth straight to New York Mets in Citi Field, 4-3

Juan Soto hit a two-run home run off Noah Syndergaard in the first. J.D. Davis and Wilson Ramos hit back-to-back blasts off Patrick Corbin in the fourth. And with the score still 2-2, Soto went yard again, ending a streak of 26-straight batters set down by New York Mets’ reliever Seth Lugo with his second home run of the night in the top of the eighth.

Soto’s blast was his third of the series, and 24th of 2019. 3-2 Nats. The lead didn’t last long.

Pinch hitter Luis Guillorme hit the 5th home run of the game, taking Nationals’ reliever Fernando Rodney deep to right to lead off the Mets’ half of the eighth.

Guillorme’s first MLB homer. Congrats, we guess.

The next two batters reached base, and after a one-out intentional pass to Pete Alonso loaded the bases, J.D. Davis hit a sac fly to right that put the Mets on top, 4-3 final.

Corbin vs NY: Patrick Corbin didn’t take a loss, though he gave up seven hits and five runs in 5 ¹⁄₃ IP last time out before tonight, so he extended an unbeaten streak to nine straight starts, over which he was (4-0) with a 2.40 ERA, 15 walks, 70 Ks, and a .228/.278/.335 line against in 56 ¹⁄₃ IP.

As for his struggles in his last outing before facing the New York Mets in Citi Field? Corbin said he just had a bad night in that start against the D-backs in Arizona.

“You’re going to have games like this where you battle out there and then things just didn’t go my way,” he explained. “I thought I tried battling, just things didn’t get there.”

Going up against the Mets for the fifth time in 2019 after going (1-1) with a 3.60 ERA, seven walks, 31 Ks, and a .240/.291/.448 line against in 25 innings in the first four appearances on the mound against the Nationals’ NL East rivals this season, Corbin took the hill in Citi Field with a 2-0 lead, courtesy of a two-run home run by Juan Soto in the top of the first.

Corbin tossed 3 ²⁄₃ scoreless before J.D. Davis got hold of a 3-2 slider, ending a nine-pitch at bat with a homer to left-center that made it a 2-1 game.

Two pitches later, Wilson Ramos hit a game-tying home run to left, 2-2 after four in New York.

Corbin kept it there through six, with a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning leaving him at 94 pitches total on the night...

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 Ks, 2 HRs, 94 P, 62 S, 9/0 GO/FO.

Syndergaard vs D.C.: Noah Syndergaard faced the Nationals three times over the first two months of the season, going (1-1) with a 3.60 ERA, three walks, 19 Ks, and a .179/.233/.358 line against in 20 IP in those starts.

Tonight in Citi Field, the right-hander was facing the Mets’ NL East rivals for the fourth time in 2019, coming off a strong seven-inning outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road in PNC Park in which he gave up three hits and one run in a 13-2 win.

Syndergaard gave up two runs in the first inning in the second of three with the Nats in Citi Field, when Juan Soto worked the count full and hit a 91 MPH changeup out to center for a two-out, two-run home run. Soto’s 23rd of 2019, and his second of the series. 2-0 Nationals.

That’s all Syndergaard gave up through five, as he set nine in a row down between a walk to Soto with no one out in the third, and a one-out single by Matt Adams in the sixth, but two outs later, Adams was still on first when Victor Robles popped out to end a 15-pitch frame that left the Mets’ starter at 89 pitches overall.

Andrew Stevenson singled in a pinch hit appearances with one out in the top of the seventh inning, but he was doubled up on a Trea Turner grounder in the next at bat.

That was it for Syndergaard, whose eight-pitch seventh left him at 97 total on the night.

Noah Syndergaard’s Line: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks, 1 HR, 97 P, 66 S, 7/4 GO/FO.

Turn-on & SotOBP: With a single the first time up in Friday’s series opener in Citi Field, Trea Turner extended his on-base streak to 17-straight games, over which the 26-year-old leadoff man was 24 for 70 (.343/.425/.543) with three doubles, three home runs, and 10 walks in 80 plate appearances.

Juan Soto extended a 14-game hit streak with a home run off Marcus Stroman in his second trip to the plate on Friday, giving himself a 15-game on-base streak, over which the 22-year-old Nationals’ left fielder was 15 for 54 (.278/.420/.611) with three doubles, five homers, and 14 walks in 69 PAs since an 0 for 4 in the first game of a doubleheader with the Rockies back on July 24th.

Soto made it 16 in a row with a two-run blast off Noah Syndergaard in the first inning of the second of three with the Mets.

Turner singled with two out in the second to extend his on-base streak to 18-straight games.

BULLPEN ACTION: Hunter Strickland came on for the Nationals in the Mets’ seventh and set the side down in order.

Seth Lugo came on for New York and retired the first two batters he faced, extending a streak of retired batters to 26-straight, but Juan Soto stepped in with two down and he crushed a 96 MPH 2-1 fastball, sending a solo shot into the upper deck in right field for home run No. 24 in 2019, No. 2 tonight, and No. 3 in the series in Citi Field. 3-2 Nats.

Fernando Rodney came on in the eighth, with a one-run lead, and promptly served up a game-tying solo shot to right by pinch hitter Luis Guillorme, 3-3.

Joe Panik reached on an error and Jeff McNeil singled in the next two at bats, ending Rodney’s night.

Daniel Hudson came on with two on and no one out and got an out at first on a grounder back to the mound.

Davey Martinez walked Pete Alonso intentionally with runners on second and third, hoping for a double play from J.D. Davis, who hit a sac fly to right, 4-3.

Lugo returned to the mound in the top of the ninth and retired the Nationals in order to end it. 4-3 NY.

Nationals now 61-55