Blevins solves Murphy this time, but Nats second baseman has delivered

Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy extended his hitting streak to 18 games against the Mets in a 10-inning 4-3 loss Tuesday night. He had a double and a single, but struck out with a man on first to end the game.

Hitting streaks are nice, of course, but you can bet Murphy would give it all back for a base hit against Mets reliever Jerry Blevins in his last at-bat.

Manager Dusty Baker said it's hard to fault Murphy in that situation, considering the multiple times this season he has carried the Nationals to a win with his bat.

"Murph wanted to come through in that situation," Baker said. "That's the kind of player Murphy is. He doesn't want to pass the buck to Bryce (Harper) necessarily. Jerry Blevins has been around a long time. They know Murph as well as Murph knows them. A situation where they got Murph tonight, but Murph's gotten them many, many, many, many, many, many times. So it's going to be a great game tomorrow."

Murphy was a part of one of the more dramatic rallies for the Nationals this season in the ninth. Down 3-1 against Mets closer Jeurys Familia, Murphy delivered an infield single to begin the rally and scored onan Anthony Rendon single. Wilson Ramos' single tied the game at 3-3. Familia allowed two runs in the inning, only one of which was earned. It was only the second earned run that Familia had allowed since Aug. 1.

"Yeah, I thought we grinded at-bats all inning," Murphy said. "Put ourselves in a really good spot there. We were able to tie it up and I think first and second with nobody out. Clint (Robinson) hits one right on the button right there. Could've won it right here.

"Jeurys is tough. I saw him all year last year from behind him. He's tough in there and to be able to grind out at-bats like that and turn 3-1 into 3-3 was a good inning for us."

In the 10th, Blevins was able to mix his fastball and curveball to get Murphy on a strikeout.

"I don't think you can get a hit every time you're at the plate. ...," Blevins said of the matchup. "He's so good, MVP candidate for a reason. You try to take advantage of some aggressiveness and get him to swing at your pitch."

That strikeout had to be special for Blevins, the former Nats reliever facing off against the former Mets hitter in the game-changing moment.

"That's what I'm here for," Blevins said. "If you don't get excited for moments like that, you're in the wrong sport. Murphy's one of the best hitters in the game. That's a challenge. Those moments that you have to stand up like T.J. Rivera, that great home run, (Mark) Melancon's one of the best closers in the game. Those are the things you do as a kid when you are in the back yard. Those are the moments that you pretend you are doing."

Murphy described the at-bat against Blevins and what he saw.

"I was trying to put it in play," Murphy said. "I was unsuccessful. I saw curveballs and fastballs."

Blevins said he prepared for the at-bat against Murphy even before the dramatic Rivera homer that broke the 3-3 tie.

"I know with him and Harper back-to-back, I know where they're at, how many hitters away they are throughout the game, the whole time," Blevins said. "And so that's my majority of my focus on there."

But that one strikeout doesn't take anything away from the season Murphy has had with the Nationals. Murphy is hitting .411 (30-for-73) against the Mets this season, with six doubles, seven homers, 21 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

But Baker said even with the loss, an 18-game hit streak against one club by Murphy is still special.

"I've seen it in the past. I don't remember it that well," Baker said. "A lot of things are kind of a blur now, but Murphy's done his thing. He's carried the weight of this team for a long, long, long time.

"He feels badly because he wanted to come through again. But you can't come through all the time, even though you want to. And he's come through more times than not. You gotta give Blevins some credit for throwing a pitch that appeared to be in the zone, knowing that Murphy was going to attack it versus taking a walk."

Murphy struck out on Blevins' 72 mph curveball.

"I think it's my best pitch, my go-to against lefties," Blevins said. "It's something I've had my whole career, coming up through the minor leagues. It's kind of been the most consistent pitch for me. I definitely enjoy using it and I have to."