Streak of first-inning success continues (Nationals lose 3-1)

NEW YORK - The Nationals seem to have this top-of-the-first thing down pretty well now.

For the fifth time in as many games on their current road trip, the Nationals scored in their opening frame, handing their starting pitcher a lead before he ever took the mound.

They jumped on the Mets again tonight, taking a quick 1-0 lead after loading the bases against rookie right-hander Robert Gsellman and then getting Anthony Rendon's sacrifice fly to bring home Trea Turner with the game's first run.

This, of course, was nothing new for the Nationals, who have scored at least one first-inning run each day this week: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Philadelphia, and now Friday and Saturday in New York.

And this trend isn't confined to the last week. The Nationals lead the majors in first-inning runs scored with 107, nine more than any other club.

The Nats rode those early leads to victories in each previous game this week, but to win again tonight they'll have to come from behind for a change. The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third thanks to Curtis Granderson's two-out, two-run single.

Granderson had been 0 for his last 22 with runners in scoring position, so the Nationals didn't hesitate to intentionally walk Yoenis Cespedes in front of him to load the bases. Granderson made them pay, though, lining Tanner Roark's next pitch to right field for his clutch hit.

Update: They've completed five innings here, and the Nationals still trail 2-1. They've had chances against Gsellman, putting eight men on base through five frames. But they've only managed to bring one home, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Roark, meanwhile, has had to battle all night. He has allowed only those two runs, but his pitch count already is 96, and he's been pitching out of the stretch most of the game.

Update II: It's 3-1 Mets after seven, thanks to back-to-back, two-out hits off Matt Belisle in the bottom of the sixth. The Nationals have put at least one man on base in every inning of this game so far, yet have scored only that one first-inning run.

Update III: That's a final. The Nationals never could get anything going offensively tonight, and so they lost 3-1. Their lead in the NL East is back down to 9 1/2 games, their magic number stuck at 18 heading into tomorrow night's series finale.