Division lead down to one after Lucas Duda makes Nats pay on late gamble

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The second largest crowd in Citi Field history watched Mets first baseman Lucas Duda basically beat the Nationals single-handedly in New York's 3-2 come-from-behind win on Saturday night. After plating two early runs in the first off All-Star Jacob deGrom, the Nats bats went silent and the shoulders of rookie Joe Ross got heavier.

Ross sped through the Mets order in the first three innings without yielding a hit. But in the fourth, Duda pulverized a sinker over the center field wall for a solo homer to cut the Nats' lead in half.

Ross breezed through the next three frames holding the one-run lead while reaching 84 pitches. The rookie had thrown as many as 108 pitches in a win in Milwaukee on June 13, but had not gone higher than 88 in his previous two starts since rejoining the Nats from Triple-A Syracuse on July 21.

With Duda leading off the seventh, Nationals manager Matt Williams opted to stay with Ross.

"He's got the lead," Williams said. "He's at 84 pitches. He just went through the last inning fine. Standard decision as far as I'm concerned. He's got the lead 2-1 and at 84, pitching well."

One pitch later, the game was tied. Another sinker found a bit too much of the plate and Duda made Ross pay again with another no-doubter into the seats in left.

"He was hitting the ball hard," Ross said. "Both home runs, they were OK pitches. I wouldn't say down the middle. Obviously, he's got a lot of power. I guess I kinda learned my lesson and will be a little more careful next time. He had a hell of a game."

Ross stayed in for two more batters, getting Wilmer Flores to ground out before leaving after Kelly Johnson's double. Right-hander Casey Janssen came in from the bullpen and quickly got out of the jam.

In the eighth, Williams turned to left-hander Matt Thornton to face left-handers Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy. Granderson entered the game batting just .132 against lefties, but he laced a leadoff double to right. After Murphy grounded out, Williams quizzically called for Thornton to intentionally walk the right-handed hitting Yoenis Cespedes to get to the red-hot and left-handed swinging Duda. The move was especially puzzling considering Cespedes has batted just .183 against left-handers all year while Duda was hitting .298 off southpaws. Thornton said he wasn't surprised with the strategy. Cespedes, who was 0-for-3 with a strikeout, was shocked.

"I was surprised," Cespedes said to reporters through an interpreter."I didn't think for a minute they'd walk me."

The gamble backfired as Duda belted a double to left scoring Granderson easily for the eventual game-winning run.

"I threw a fastball down the middle of the plate to Curtis and I hung three sliders to Lucas and then he hit the third one," Thornton said matter-of-factly.

"We've got confidence in Thorny anytime he faces a lefty," Williams said confidently. "Tonight it didn't happen for him, but he's been there a million times. If we get an opportunity to get him back in there tomorrow, we'll do it."

It was Duda's fifth multi-homer game of the season. He has mashed eight bombs in his last seven games.

The Mets have taken advantage of the Nats scuffling offense, winning two tightly contested one-run ballgames to pull to within one game of the lead in the National League East heading into Sunday's primetime series finale.