MLB: Washington Nationals at New York Mets

Game recap July 9: Logan Verrett is not Matt Harvey

What Happened, In a Sentence:

Daniel Murphy continued to hit Mets pitching like it’s the 2015 playoffs, with a homer and 4 RBI in a 6-1 Nationals win

Mets Get to Scherzer Early

Max Scherzer threw 7.1 shutout innings against the Mets two weeks ago. He’s been on a roll since June 1, holding batters to a miniscule .161/.208/.292 slash line. The Nationals star couldn’t find his release point early, walking Jose Reyes on four pitches. Curtis Granderson singled to left and Jayson Werth threw the ball to an imaginary fielder instead of second base, advancing the runners. Neil Walker hit a sacrifice fly for a rare manufactured run by the Mets. James Loney was hit by the next pitch, but Scherzer got the next two batters to get out of the jam.

By the second inning Scherzer found his command. Alejandro De Aza singled with one out as Daniel Murphy dove for a ball to his right but couldn’t grab it. The next Met to reach base was also De Aza, leading off the fifth with a single to center. After that the next Met to reach base was – no way you’d guess this before the game – De Aza again. Using De Aza and his abysmal .188 TAv to replace the injured Yoenis Cespedes instead of turning to Juan Lagares was a questionable decision, but it paid off for one day

Verrett Walks to #5 Role:

With Matt Harvey out for the season with thoracic outlet surgery, the Mets called on Logan Verrett to take his spot in the rotation. Verrett actually has the lower earned run average (4.01 vs. 4.86), but ERA can be deceptive. Harvey struggled because of his injuries and because balls kept falling in for base hits against him (.353 BABIP). Verrett’s Deserved Run Average is 5.35, considerably worse than Harvey’s 4.70. For all that Verrett gets described as a “control” pitcher, he has walked more than 10 percent of opposing batters this year. Only nine pitchers with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title walk players more often. Free passes played a key role in Verrett’s loss yesterday.

Bryce Harper walked to lead off the second inning, then stole second on the very next pitch. Wilson Ramos singled and Clint Robinson drove harper in with a sacrifice fly. Verrett started the next inning by walking Scherzer. Ben Revere pulled a ball that bounced fair past first base. Loney couldn’t make the play as a left-handed first baseman, so the ball bounced all the way down the line for an RBI triple. Reyes knocked down a hard hit ball to third to retire Werth. Verrett got ahead of Murphy 0-2 then hung an offspeed pitch that Murphy lined through the shift.

Verrett settled down for a bit after giving up a 3-1 lead, retiring Harper and Ramos to get out of the inning. He retired a total of seven straight hitters before surrendering a two-out walk to Werth. Murphy immediately made him pay, pulling a tailing fastball that caught too much of the plate for an RBI double. Harper was walked intentionally. Verrett then threw a fastball right down the middle, but Ramos lined to Cabrera to end the inning. He settled down in the sixth inning, retiring all three batters.

Even though Verrett wasn’t that effective and had just tied a big league career high with 93 pitches, Terry Collins kept him in the game for the seventh. Verrett retired Scherzer and Revere but walked Werth again. Collins called on Antonio Bastardo as the lower leverage situational lefty. Just like the fifth inning, Murphy made the Mets pay, driving a fastball down the middle in to the Washington bullpen. In 2015, Murphy had five home runs before the All Star break for the Mets. In 2016, Murphy has six home runs in 12 games against the Mets. All four Nationals who got unintentional walks from Verrett scored.

After the Nationals took a 6-1 lead both sides worked to wrap the game up before the rain came. (Except for Bastardo auditioning for the role of human rain delay in the seventh.) Scherzer stayed in to complete the seventh, racking up 116 pitches. Granderson doubled to the wall against left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero in the eighth. Erik Goeddel created a jam in the ninth but got out of it. Travis d’Arnaud walked with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and then De Aza ran out of luck, striking out to end the game.

Injury Updates:

Collins said that Noah Syndergaard did not report any discomfort, tightness or pain in his arm after leaving Friday’s game in the fifth inning. Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen both said they have never seen a pitcher suddenly lose velocity without other discomfort. The team believes it is just fatigue and does not plan on giving Syndergaard an MRI at this point. He will be sent to the end of the rotation to get 10 days off – essentially skipping a start. Syndergaard will travel to San Diego for the All Star Game festivities but won’t play. Cespedes will not make the trip to rest his quad injury.

What’s Next:

The Mets look to salvage a split of the four game series, with Steven Matz facing Gio Gonzalez.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

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