Nats flip script, rout Mets again to win series (updated)

NEW YORK – A Nationals ballclub that entered the weekend with a historically woeful record against division opponents marched into Citi Field and emerged with a series victory over the first-place Mets. And all it took to achieve the seemingly unachievable was Patrick Corbin outdueling Max Scherzer, César Hernández hitting his first home in more than a calendar year and Erick Fedde earning his first win in 16 career attempts against New York.

Strange times, indeed. But welcome times for the Nats, who followed up Saturday night’s rousing victory with an identical 7-1 blowout before a stunned and/or booing crowd of 31,711 that couldn’t believe what just happened here over the last 24 hours.

So what if the Nationals were 9-43 against the National League East this season? They’re 2-0 the last two days. So what if their rotation set a modern baseball record with 43 consecutive winless starts? They’ve notched four wins in the last week. And so what if they’ve won only six road series all year? Three of those have come against the Mets, Dodgers and Braves, owners of the three best records in the NL.

"We're getting good pitching," manager Davey Martinez said. "We're starting to put the ball in play. Playing good defense. The last couple games were really good. I'm proud of the guys. They're playing hard, and that's all you can ask for."

None of this means the Nats are about to go on a September run against a daunting schedule loaded with opponents in the thick of the pennant race. But neither does it mean they can’t enjoy a few celebratory moments along the way, making this season a little more tolerable.

"We're going to play a lot of teams that are in playoff hunts here coming up," Fedde said. "It's our job to play spoiler and continue to play good baseball. It's a lot of fun doing that."

This weekend certainly fit that bill, capped off by today’s victory, which included a little bit of everything, but most notably included something nobody had seen all season long: A home run by Hernández.

Signed to a $4 million contract early in the winter after he blasted 21 homers last season in Cleveland and Chicago, Hernández inexplicably went more than five months and 544 plate appearances into his Nationals tenure without clearing the fence once. Truth be told, he hadn’t even come close to that many times.

But when he dug in to face a 2-2 fastball from Mets reliever Trevor Williams in the top of the fifth this afternoon, the 32-year-old infielder-turned-outfielder heard a sound come off his bat that he hadn’t heard in a long time.

"Now that I'm hitting sixth in the lineup, I think I have a different mentality at the plate," said Hernández, who spent the first half of the season leading off and focusing more on reaching base than hitting for power. "I'm trying to be more aggressive on certain pitches, just going up to bat."

The ball made a beeline for right field, landing in the second deck some 398 feet away, and Hernández made a joyous trip around the bases behind Keibert Ruiz (who had just recorded one of his three singles on the day). Ruiz greeted him at the plate with a high-five, but when the two arrived to the dugout, the entire Nationals roster and coaching staff was motionless and soundless, ignoring Hernández for a lengthy period of time before finally ending the silent treatment and mobbing him in celebration.

"I felt bad, actually," Martinez said. "Three pitches in (to the next batter), I said I've gotta say something to him. So I went over there and started screaming, and the team came over. Man, he's waited all year for that one, and I'm happy for him."

"I know that's customary, especially when I go so long without hitting a home run," Hernández said with a smile. "I was kind of knowing it might happen."

Hernández’s homer was the capper to another strong offensive game from the Nationals, who took down Mets starter Carlos Carrasco in three innings, taking a quick 1-0 lead two batters in on Lane Thomas’ double and Luis García’s RBI single, then adding four more runs in the third, with Ruiz and Ildemaro Vargas each delivering two-out, two-run singles to complete the rally.

That provided plenty of run support for Fedde, who followed up a disappointing start against the Athletics with one of his best starts of the season, holding the Mets to one run over six innings.

That lone run scored in the second inning on a walk, a groundball single that somehow made it through two shifted infielders and a sacrifice fly. That proved to be the only jam Fedde faced all afternoon. Of the 101 pitches he threw, 30 came in the second inning alone, which made his five other frames rather efficient by his standards.

"Luckily, the game kind of played into that," he said. "My plan from the beginning was to not worry about anything other than executing my pitch, whether it was a lot of velocity or a lot of movement. It was simple, aggressive and in the zone, and I think that led to a good game."

So it was that Fedde not only earned the fourth win by a Nationals starter in seven games, but more dramatically his first career win in 16 appearances against the Mets, 11 of those starts.

"I feel like it's lot to do with our defense and our offense," Fedde said of today's long-awaited win. "They gave me a really big lead, and gave me the ability to really go after guys. On my end, it's my job to try to make them string together five, six hits to get back into that game, and I feel like that's really tough to do. So I went right after guys and put the pressure on them."