WASHINGTON — There were no extra-inning theatrics Wednesday night at Nationals Park. The July Mets looked more like the Mets of May, blowing a lead and eventually losing 7-5 to the Washington Nationals in the third game of a four-game series.
Tyrone Taylor, Mark Vientos and Francisco Lindor each homered to put the Mets up 5-0, but the lead wouldn’t last.
The Mets bullpen was depleted, with right-hander Dedniel Nuñez and Jose Butto unavailable after pitching multiple innings in the first two games. Edwin Diaz remains suspended. The only roster move made was to recall right-hander Christian Scott from Triple-A Syracuse, which made Carlos Mendoza’s job difficult when it came to navigating bullpen moves.
“There was couple, obviously, that when they don’t work, you want to go back and look,” Mendoza said. “But it goes both ways. I took Scott out of there and it doesn’t work. So those are some of the decisions that I make as a manager. But other than that, I feel like [I have] no regrets on any of the decisions.”
Scott allowed four runs before exiting the game in the sixth. Left-hander Jake Diekman gave up the tying run and the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh.
With the Mets up 5-4, right-hander Adam Ottavino got the first two outs before handing the ball over to Diekman to face the top of the order. But the veteran lefty couldn’t finish off hitters.
“They’re pretty good at just putting the ball in play and fouling stuff off,” Diekman said. “Making you work.”
Diekman got ahead on CJ Abrams before falling behind and walking him. He was ahead 1-2 before giving up an RBI double to Lane Thomas. He had rookie outfielder James Wood, who made his major league debut for Washington on Monday, on a 1-2 count. But Wood singled up the middle to score Abrams and put the Nats up 6-5.
Finally, Diekman (2-3) was able to put away Jesse Winker for the third out. However, right-hander Ty Adcock gave up a homer to Luis Garcia Jr., in the bottom of the eighth, the second home run of the night given up to the second baseman.
Scott was tagged for four earned runs on six hits, with Garcia homering off of him in the sixth with two outs. The Mets then took him out, but it was one batter too late.
“Where we are bullpen-wise, after he got that pop up for the second out, was trying to squeeze one more hitter,” Mendoza said. “That didn’t work. Probably a pitch that he wishes he had back because he was pretty good all the way to that point.”
Scott cruised through the first four innings before giving up a run in the fifth. A double play got the rookie right-hander out of trouble, but his command wavered and he got himself into bad counts.
It proved to be a sign of what was to come.
After getting the first out, he allowed back-to-back singles to Wood and Winker to put runners on the corners. He retired Keibert Ruiz, but then left a 1-0 sweeper over the heart of the plate to Garcia who drove it the other way for a three-run homer.
The Mets’ lead was mostly erased, and the Nationals were within one, 5-4.
“I’ve just got to adjust my sights there on that pitch,” Scott said. “I didn’t execute that pitch very well.”
He walked two and struck out two over 5 2/3 innings. The Mets were hoping he could get him through at least the six or seven innings to aid the bullpen, but he wasn’t as sharp as he had been in past starts. He didn’t get a lot of swings and misses and like Diekman, he struggled to finish off hitters.
“I didn’t do a good job executing locations in two-strike counts,” Scott said. “Later in counts, I did a good job. Early in counts didn’t do a great job. But good teams are going to take advantage of that, especially later in the ballgame.”
Taylor put the Mets on the board in the third with a leadoff blast off left-hander Mitchell Parker in the third. It was the outfielder’s fifth of the season but his second in the last week.
With two outs and J.D. Martinez on second base after a double off Parker, Vientos sent a fastball 435 feet to dead center to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Lindor made it 5-0 with a two-run shot of his own off Parker in the fifth.
Parker allowed five earned runs on five hits and struck out five over six innings for Washington (40-46). Kyle Finnegan converted the save (23) with a scoreless ninth.
The Mets (42-42) still have a chance to take the series Thursday morning, when they face off against their NL East foes in an 11 a.m. matinee contest.
SENGA’S REHAB START
Right-handed ace Kodai Senga made his first rehab start with High-A Brooklyn, throwing 2 2/3 perfect innings. The injured ace threw 35 pitches and struck out six.