Sloppy Nats get blown out in latest loss to Mets (updated)

NEW YORK – The Nationals looked ready for primetime Monday night at Citi Field. They just couldn’t deliver the one clutch hit they would’ve needed to beat the Mets.

They looked very much not-ready-for-primetime tonight. From a poor start by Mitchell Parker to a mental mistake by James Wood to an unexpected early departure by Luis García Jr., the Nats never stood a chance of stacking up with their potentially postseason-bound division rivals, who coasted to a 10-1 victory before a raucous crowd of 24,932 at Citi Field.

In one of their uglier games in a while, the Nationals were routed by New York, which has now gone two games up on the Braves (who blew a lead in Cincinnati) in the race for the third and final Wild Card berth in the National League.

"Obviously, that's not how we envisioned this game going," said Wood, who won't want to remember many details from his 22nd birthday. "But we've just got to be able to learn from it and take it into tomorrow and be better tomorrow." 

If the Mets ultimately prevail, they’ll have done so on the strength of their dominance against the Nats. New York is now 10-2 in head-to-head matchups this season, with one more game to go here Wednesday night. The Braves, on the other hand, went 5-8 against Washington, which could spell doom for their chances of reaching the playoffs for the seventh straight year.

Despite the lopsided won-loss record, the Nationals have legitimately played the Mets tough at times this season. Three of the losses came in extra innings, including Monday’s taut 2-1 thriller.

There was nothing close about tonight’s affair, not the way the Nats performed under the bright lights, especially their young starter.

Parker made it through his first two innings unscathed, and he actually took the mound for the bottom of the third with a 1-0 lead in hand thanks to a rally by his teammates that didn’t even include a ball that left the infield. The Nats scored via a Jacob Young walk, an error by Luisangel Acuña on CJ Abrams’ grounder to third and Wood’s run scoring grounder.

Truth be told, they should’ve plated more than one run by that point. Picking up where they left off during Monday’s extra-inning loss, they went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position the first three innings tonight, failing to capitalize against Mets starter Tylor Megill.

"We just couldn't catch up to a fastball," manager Davey Martinez said. "The guy was throwing fastballs, and we were late. Bad combination."

That proved costly when Parker made a mess of the bottom of the third. The left-hander issued a leadoff walk to Harrison Bader, then surrendered an RBI double to Acuña, tying the game. He would’ve been in good shape when he got Jose Iglesias to ground to first, except for one major problem: He never broke from the mound to cover the bag. So after going down to a knee to field the ball, Joey Gallo looked up to toss it to his pitcher, only to drop it upon realizing Parker was nowhere to be found.

It was merely the latest in a string of defensive lapses by Parker, for whom there are no more excuses. He says he’s going to work on this during the offseason. His future in the big leagues might depend on it.

"It's not really an excuse, I've just got to be over there," the lefty said. "I've got to get rid of that stutter-step on the way over, and can't let that happen. Especially 10 times now."

Parker only compounded matters by letting the inning spiral out of control after that. He walked Starling Marte. He served up a bloop two-run single to Pete Alonso, then a sacrifice fly to Mark Vientos. Just like that, the Mets led 4-1 and Parker’s pitch count was rising.

He would open the fourth by surrendering a home run to Francisco Alvarez that made it 5-1. And three batters later, he was done for the night. Martinez pulled his starter after allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks in only 3 2/3 innings, his pitch count at 78.

"I just wasn't executing pitches," Parker said. "I was getting to two strikes and not able to put anything away. And you can't walk two guys and expect not to have anything bad happen, especially against a team like this."

With a chance to try to get back in the game while the deficit was still manageable, the Nationals went dead silent at the plate. Ten consecutive batters were retired by Megill, who only allowed two hits in six innings.

One of those outs might not have needed to be an out had Wood simply hustled when presented the opportunity to do so. The rookie outfielder tapped a ball that initially landed in foul territory a few feet up the first base line. But with some unorthodox spin, the ball trickled back toward the foul line, and as soon as it crossed the chalk, the catcher Alvarez picked it up and tossed underhand to first base. That toss actually was high and forced Alonso to make a leaping grab just to prevent it from winding up in right field.

Where was Wood throughout the whole process? He was still standing near the plate, having never bothered to run out the play just in case it did become a fair ball. He trudged back to the dugout, sure to be on the receiving end of death stares from a few members of the coaching staff.

"I just thought it was foul at first, and then I see it start spinning and going back the other direction," he said. "At that point, there really wasn't much I could do there."

"He did say he thought the ball was going to stay foul, but the ball's in fair territory. You've got to run," Martinez said. "If he throws that ball away, it's a different conversation."

By the time the seventh inning arrived and the Mets had extended their lead to lopsided proportions thanks to Alonso’s three-run homer off Zach Brzykcy, Wood and Abrams were given the rest of the night off.

García had already come out of the game in the fourth, his right wrist sore after taking a swing during his strikeout the previous inning. The second baseman went 0-for-2 in the game, and his status for Wednesday's series finale won't be known until he gets treatment in the afternoon.

"I took him out for precaution," Martinez said. "We'll see how he's doing tomorrow."