Miscues, lack of offense haunt Nats in season's first series

The Nationals were overwhelmed by Mets starter Matt Harvey in today's 6-3 loss. Pitching for the first time in a regular season game since Tommy John surgery in October 2013, Harvey struck out half the batters he faced. Nats right fielder Bryce Harper was a victim three times while violently hacking at 97 mph fastballs high and away in each at-bat for third strikes.

"He's tough out there," said Harper. "I keep saying it, I've said it a million times, he's gonna be Cy Young (winner) one day and everybody knows that. He one of the toughest at-bats I've ever had. I've said that a million times also. He's very tough out there. He's a very good pitcher and he got us this time."

The Nats were only able to push six runs across the plate in the season's opening series while managing just three hits in 19 chances with runners in scoring position.

Meanwhile, six of the Mets 11 runs scored the past three games were unearned and followed errors from Nats shortstop Ian Desmond. Today's game unraveled in the fourth inning after Desmond's third error in as many games led to four Mets runs. With the game scoreless and one out, Nats starter Stephen Strasburg coaxed Mets third baseman David Wright into hitting a perfect double play grounder right at Desmond. The inning should have been over, but Desmond booted it and everybody was safe.

"The object is to field the ball that's rolling to you," said Desmond. "I wasn't able to convert. I'm all for owning up when I make a mistake. I wish I would've put myself in a better position to - I don't really know - get a better hop. I wasn't expecting the ball to bounce up like that. But like I said, the object is to convert the balls that are rolling into outs. I wasn't able to do that."

The miscues from Desmond have to be frustrating for Nats manager Matt Williams, whose team was already in a bad spot facing the Mets tough rotation without three of its star offensive players.

"That's a good double play ball for us," said Williams. "(Desmond) just got it in between hops. Didn't move his feet as well as he normally does to get the good hop. He was in between and it kicked off the heel of his glove. But I don't see anything in particular. He's made a couple of nice plays, too. Last night, a couple of skipping balls on the wet turf that he handled fine. He'll be just fine, I think."

Strasburg, like Monday opening day starter Max Scherzer, struggled to get out of the inning after the error.

"You can't let those things affect you," said Strasburg. "These guys are going to go out there and give it everything they have every single day. That's all I'm expecting because I'm trying to go out there and do the same thing. I know when you face adversity, you want to go out there and pick each other up. I'm going to go out there and try to do that, but it didn't work out today."

All 10 of the Mets' hits came on singles as they failed to get an extra-base knock for the second straight night. Overall, Strasburg allowed six runs, three earned, on nine hits with three walks, five strikeouts and one hit batter.

"I don't think anything went wrong if you look at the contact that they made," said Strasburg. "It was a lot of very weak contact. That's just how baseball is sometimes. You make good pitches and they hit it where we're not. They didn't square me up. I don't remember anybody hitting a double off me. Sometimes those hits will fall, but I think I'm close and I'm getting to where I want to get. It's still very early."

Williams was pleased with Strasburg's first outing, despite the result, while putting a positive spin on Desmond's early-season fielding difficulties.

"For me today, Stephen pitched well," he said. "That's all I can take from it. That's all he'll take from it. And us as a team, that's all we'll take. Errors are going to happen. It's going to go that way sometimes. But we can't put too much stock in it because we have another one tomorrow."

The Nats will throw lefty Gio Gonzalez tomorrow in the first game of a three-game set in Philadelphia.