Washington Nationals drop 2 of 3 to New York Mets in D.C. with 9-5 loss in finale...

Sánchez vs NYM:

Three starts into his 16th big league season, and third year with Washington, things haven’t gone well for 38-year-old Nationals’ starter Aníbal Sánvhez, whose third outing was a 5 ²⁄₃-inning, 108-pitch start in which he was tagged for six hits (two of them home runs) and gave up six earned runs total in a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

“He fell behind quite a bit today on hitters,” manager Davey Martinez when asked where the veteran starter needed to make improvements after the outing against the Cards.

“So he’s got to — when he’s really good he works ahead. He’s got so many different pitches, so when he’s ahead, they got to worry about a lot of different things, but when he’s behind they know he’s got to come throw strikes, so he’s got to work ahead. His stuff is still good, it really is. His changeup is still good, it really is.

“His changeup is good, his curveball is effective, he’s got a sinker, he’s got a cutter, and we all know he’s got that whatever he calls it — mariposa — whatever, it’s still effective, but he’s got to start working ahead.”

Sánchez threw 43 pitches in two scoreless to start this afternoon’s series finale with the New York Mets, but after he erased a leadoff single on a double play in the top of the third, he gave up a two-out walk to Francisco Lindor, in front of Pete Alonso, who made him pay for the free pass with a two-run shot to center field on a first-pitch slider, 2-0 Mets. No. 28 for Alonso this season, a 411-foot shot.

Sánchez walked Brandon Nimmo to start the top of the fifth, but Nationals’ third baseman, Ildemaro Vargas, dropped a line drive to third off Starling Marte’s bat, and threw it away on an attempt to get at least a force at second. With runners on second and third and no one out, the Nationals walked Pete Alonso intentionally, and went to the bullpen...

Narrator: It didn’t work out for the Nationals (see below)...

Aníbal Sánchez’s Line: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 Ks, 1 HR, 97 P, 62 S, 5/3 GO/FO.

Bassitt vs D.C. Round Two:

Acquired from the Oakland A’s this past March, Chris Bassitt debuted for New York with six scoreless innings against Washington’s Nationals back on April 9th, in a 5-0 Mets’ win that saw the right-hander give up three hits and a walk while striking out eight of the 22 hitters he faced on the road in the nation’s capital.

Overall on the year, heading into his second start of the season against NY’s divisional rival, the 33-year-old had a 3.83 ERA, a 3.79 FIP, 32 walks, 117 Ks, and a .227/.290/.371 line against over 19 starts and 115 IP.

Bassitt tossed two scoreless on 27 pitches to start the third of three for the Mets in D.C., and he took the mound in the third up 2-0, courtesy of a Pete Alonso blast, and worked around a one-out single by Ildemaro Vargas for his third scoreless frame.

It was 6-0 when Bassitt came out for the bottom of the fifth and worked around a pair of one-out singles for his fifth scoreless frame, and he retired the side in order in a 13-pitch sixth which left him at 75 pitches total on the day.

Chris Bassitt’s Line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 Ks, 94 P, 70 S, 12/2 GO/FO.

Bullpen Action:

Jordan Weems took over for the Nationals with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the fifth, and gave up a grand slam on a 97 MPH 2-2 fastball up high inside which Daniel Vogelbach hit 363 feet to right for a towering home run and a 6-0 Mets’ lead after four and a half in D.C.

Luis Guillorme and Tomás Nido hit back-to-back doubles* off Weems in the top of the sixth, with Guillorme taking third on an error by an efforting Lane Thomas in left on his hit, before scoring on Nido’s 7th double of 2022, 7-0, and 8-0 on an RBI groundout by Starling Marte.

[ed. note - “Guillorme’s ‘double’ was eventually, probably accurately, ruled a triple a few innings later. Thomas tried to make a sliding play on the hard hit ball, right as it reached the part of the stands which juts out, and he came up empty and had it roll by him.”]

Steve Cishek struck out three straight after giving up a leadoff double in the seventh, and Andres Machado did the same in the eighth after he gave up a leadoff single and a double to start the top of the inning.

Hunter Harvey got the top of the ninth, and he gave up Jeff McNeil’s third double of the game, 3 for 5, 3 doubles, and a run, 9-0.

New Mets’ reliever Mychal Givens gave up a one-out home run by Keibert Ruiz which broke up the shutout bid for New York, 9-1, and a two-out home run by Lane Thomas, 9-2. No. 4 for Keibert in 2022. No. 10 for Thomas. Josh Palacios, Ildemaro Vargas (4 for 4) and then Victor Robles all followed with singles as well, with Robles driving in a run, 9-3, before Givens was done.

Luis García drove in two more with a single off new pitcher Seth Lugo, 9-5, but that’s as close as they’d get...

Nationals now 36-70