Syndergaard leaves game in second (Nats win 23-5)

The Nationals brought the hammer down in the first inning against Mets starter Noah Syndergaard.

Batting around, the Nats scored five runs on five hits with RBI singles from Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon, Michael A. Taylor and Joe Ross. Rendon's single scored two runs. Bryce Harper was walked and scored. The Mets intentionally walked Matt Wieters only to surrender a clean single to Ross into left field.

Zimmerman now has at least one RBI in six of his last eight at-bats.

The Mets scored single runs in the first and second frames. After a José Reyes triple in the first, Jay Bruce connected on an RBI single. In the second inning, René Rivera launched his first homer of the season, a solo shot.

In the bottom of the second, Syndergaard left the game with one out while pitching to Harper. He was clutching his right pitching arm. He was replaced by Sean Gilmartin. Syndergaard was scratched from his last start with sore biceps tendinitis. He refused to take an MRI and said he was good to go today.

The Nationals lead the Mets 5-2 heading to the top of the third.

Update: Bruce launched a solo shot in the third, his seventh of the season. Ross has allowed four home runs in his last two starts.

Rendon slammed a solo homer to left field off Gilmartin in the third. His first homer of the season and first since Sept. 30, 2016.

Taylor is 2-for-2 and has gone 6-for-8 since a pinch-hit single on Thursday in Denver.

The Nationals led the Mets 6-3 after three innings.

Update II: Matt Reynolds started a two-out rally with a single off Ross in the fourth. Gilmartin drove him in with an RBI double to left field, and Michael Conforto's scored the pitcher with an RBI single to right.

Update III: Back-to-back singles by Jayson Werth and Harper put Zimmerman in another RBI situation, and he delivered with a sac fly to right. After a single by Daniel Murphy, Rendon hit his second homer of the day, this one a three-run shot to left-center. Rendon's six RBIs today are a new career high. His previous was four.

The Nationals lead the Mets 10-5 going to the fifth.

Update IV: Anthony Rendon, have a day. In the fifth, Rendon blasted a three-run double off the wall in right-center field to give the Nationals a 13-5 lead. His ninth RBI of the game sets a new Nats record (Josh Willingham eight, Trea Turner seven). He has four hits on the day: a single, double and two homers.

The Nats lead the Mets 13-5 after five innings. They have scored 11 or more runs in four of their last six games.

Update V: In the sixth, Wieters launched a solo homer over the left field wall in his first meeting ever versus former Nationals farmhand Josh Smoker. It's his third homer of the season and second hit of the day.

The Nationals lead the Mets 14-5 after six innings.

Update VI: The Nationals blew this one into the stratosphere in their seventh, scoring five runs highlighted by Wieters' three-run shot, his second homer of the game, and Murphy's RBI double. The Nats have scored 14 or more runs in the month of April five times. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is a new major league record. Backup catcher Kevin Plawecki came in to pitch for the Mets, recording three straight flyouts. For Wieters, it is his eighth multi-homer game of his career.

The Nats lead the Mets 19-5 after seven.

Update VII: The Nats keep on keeping on, scoring four more runs in the eighth. Harper hit a solo shot. Adam Lind hit a two-run homer. Rendon hit a solo homer. The three homers by Rendon mark the fifth time a player has accomplished that feat in a Nats uniform, joining Alphonso Soriano, Adam Dunn, Zimmerman and Harper. Rendon is 6-for-6 with 10 RBIs, both career highs. Blake Treinen record three outs in the ninth.

The National defeat the Mets 23-5.

The 23 runs are a new franchise record. The 23 hits are a new season high.