Bullpen succumbs to heavy workload, Mets come back to win 11-5

NEW YORK - In the end, a tired Nationals bullpen could not hold up for a third game in a row.

Nursing a 4-2 lead, the bullpen imploded for one of the rare times this season, allowing nine runs on six hits in the eighth, and the Mets salvaged the final game of the series, 11-5.

Ryan Madson, pitching in his third consecutive game of the series, surrendered three straight singles before recording an out.

Todd Frazier connected on a two-run single and pinch-hitter Juan Lagares' line drive curled inside the foul line into the right field corner to score two more and the Mets had made their comeback statement.

Madson (0-2) ended up allowing six runs on five hits while recording two outs.

"I think it speaks for itself," Madson said afterwards. "I think I had about five, ten good bullets in there and the ball started getting away from me after that. That's one of those things, I kind of emptied the tank the night before to get that final out there. But I signed up for it. I thought I could give the boys that inning. Obviously, didn't work out, obviously."

Manager Davey Martinez said he still has the utmost confidence in his bullpen and what Madson can do.

"Madson's our guy, right?" Martinez queried. "I'm going to put him out there. Just didn't work out today. Hats off to the Mets players, they had some good at-bats."

Sammy Solís arrived and also wasn't as dominant as he was Tuesday night, unable to record an out. He faced two batters and walked them both.

"We really felt he could get through this," Martinez said. "We had (Madson) at a pitch count, once he hit that limit, that's when I said enough is enough. Same thing with Sammy, Sammy came in and we wanted to keep his pitch count down too, so that's the reason why we did what we did."

Yoenis Céspedes crushed a line drive grand slam over the left field wall off of reliever A.J. Cole and the comeback turned into a rout.

Ryan Zimmerman had his best game of the season, going 3-for-4 with two homers, a triple, three runs scored and four RBIs. He staked the Nats to a 3-0 lead with a three-run shot in the first. The 23 runs the Nats have scored in the first inning leads baseball.

"I just got to keep going and kind of trust the process as they say," Zimmerman said. "I've been hitting the ball hard, but obviously not everything has been great. You can't make that excuse for every single at bat. But definitely nice to have a good game."

Martinez had told reporters to stay with Zimmerman. He also had kept the slugger in the cleanup spot despite a slow start. Those dividends started to pay off the last two games of the series with Zimmerman going 4-for-8 with two homers, a triple, three runs scored and five RBIs.

"Unbelievable. Like I said, I felt like for awhile that he's been hitting the ball very well," Martinez said. "I said the hits would start coming, and he showed it today. If he can keep it going we are going to start to getting explosive."

Tanner Roark was very good, holding the Mets to two runs on just two hits over seven innings, battling a questionable strike zone, from home plate umpire Tom Woodring for 103 pitches in a hard fought no decision.

"Two seamer's really working," Roark said. "I thought they were strikes. He disagreed. He's the one calling balls and strikes. We talked a little bit, said my piece, just got to do what you got to do and execute your pitches."

But even after the tough loss, the Nats had accomplished what they set out to do to begin the long road trip: at least win the series, gaining a game in the standings against the first-place Mets. They took two out of three, have a day off Thursday in Los Angeles, and get ready for three against the Dodgers Friday night at Chavez Ravine.

"I love it. We are playing well," Martinez said. "Zim started swinging the bat. I love it. Everybody's playing really well. We got some momentum going forward. We got a day off tomorrow which we definitely need. We go to L.A., play this weekend."