Hellickson and Madson on Nats' 8-6 win over Mets

NEW YORK - In his first regular-season game of 2018, Jeremy Hellickson was hit around by the Mets in each of the five innings he pitched in.

Hellickson hadn't pitched in a game that counted since last Sept. 23, when he was a starter for the Orioles against the Rays.

Over the last month, he has been getting stretched out in warm-up games and side sessions from the Nationals' facility in West Palm Beach, Fla.

He returned last night and kept his new team in the game, a game they would eventually come back to win 8-6.

Hellickson used his fastball, changeup, knuckle-curve and slider to keep the hot-hitting Mets at arm's length. They connected for single runs in the first and third frames, but never unleashed the big inning they had hoped for because Hellickson found a way to get that third out each frame. He lasted 4 2/3 innings, scattering seven hits and walking one, but allowing only two runs and striking out three.

"Couldn't ask for a better day to come up," Hellickson said. "I felt good. Obviously, weather is a little different up here than it was down there, so that took a little bit getting used to. I thought my stuff was good. Command was good for the most part. I was getting ahead of guys. Just got to put them away, I think. I don't know how many foul balls there were, but there was a lot."

Nationals manager Davey Martinez wanted to keep Hellickson around 80 to 85 pitches.

"We wanted to keep him at 85 pitches, which was perfect," Martinez said.

Hellickson believed that was the right call.

"I felt good. I haven't really got to 90-plus yet, so 85 was the number," Hellickson said. "Obviously, I would have liked to go a little deeper, but It's a good lineup. They foul off good pitches and make you work."

Hellickson left with his team down 2-1.

Shawn Kelley struck out Todd Frazier to get out of the fifth, but Matt Grace and A.J. Cole got knocked around, surrending two runs in an inning each.

Then Hellickson got to watch the stunning comeback as the Nats scored six in the eighth and one in the ninth to topple the Mets.

"It was awesome," Hellickson said. "I don't think anybody in this clubhouse moved for about 30 minutes. It was a lot of fun to watch. I've seen these guys do it the last few years, so it was good to be a part of it this time."

There was still work to do. Brandon Kintzler pitched a scoreless eighth and Ryan Madson worked around a one-out double by Asdrúbal Cabrera in the ninth to post his second save.

A sterling defensive play from catcher Pedro Severino kept the Mets away from a game-tying rally. After the ball got away from Severino, Cabrera tried to get to third base and Severino fired to Wilmer Difo, who tagged out the runner at third for the second out. A flyout to left field ended the game.

"I couldn't thank (Severino) enough," Madson said. "I wanted to do a mound visit just to give him a hug. I couldn't believe (Cabrera) was running on that, so you have to take advantage of those mistakes when you can. Just go after the next hitter and get him out right away."

Madson said it was a big moment to see Kintzler deny the Mets a counterpunch after the Nats' big rally.

"That's our job. We got to win the games we are supposed to win," Madson said. "So when the guys give us a lead like that late, just go out there and hold it for them and throw your best pitches. I think that's what we both did. We also had some good pitching from Kelley. It's a group effort. It's just fun to be a part of."

Madson joined the club last season as was a major part of its division-winning run. This win reminded him of the Nats' 97-win 2017 campaign.

"It felt like last year's team where we knew we were always in the game late innings like that," Madson noted. "So we started getting excited out there. Sammy (Solís) warmed up three times, but didn't get in, so that was pretty funny. That was a lot of fun to watch the team do that and then be a part of it late. Feels good. That's going to create a lot of momentum for us."