New York Mets: Did they send a message to the Washington Nationals?
The New York Mets had a big win in their game against the Washington Nationals yesterday. Message sent?
Over the past few years, the National League East has either gone through the Washington Nationals or the New York Mets. The Mets have made the playoffs two of the last three years as have the Nationals. Both teams were riding high going into yesterday’s game as both have gotten off to good starts to start the year.
The New York Mets however went into our nation’s capital and thanks to big blasts from the returning Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes and Jay Bruce beat Washington 8-2 in their home opener.
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This was a matchup of ace pitchers as Jacob deGrom took on Stephen Strasburg, who would be an ace on many teams except for that Max Scherzer guy being on the Nationals.
deGrom went six strong striking out five while giving up two runs, one of them being earned. In the sixth, deGrom loaded the bases with no one out, but he got Ryan Zimmerman to fly out, Howie Kendrick to ground out and Trea Turner to strike out. Turner was thrown out of the game for arguing balls and strikes.
The New York Mets went out this season and made themselves deeper up and down the roster. Instead of Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo in the rotation, they can be deployed out of the bullpen. Wilmer Flores and Jose Reyes are now utility players not everyday guys. They don’t have the farm system that contenders like the Dodgers and Yankees do, so they need their top guys to stay healthy. Last year, it didn’t happen and they had a miserable season.
Next: Minor League Opening Day
The past two seasons, the Nationals have won 12 and 13 games respectively out of the 19 they play against the Mets. In Nationals Park, the Mets are 43-48 all time. The past two seasons they are 9-11.
This New York Mets team looks different. It’s deeper. It’s got a manager who seems like he knows how to handle a pitching staff. Yes it’s early, however, if the Mets can win this series against a team that always seems to give them fits, 2018 could be a nice year for them.