Game 37: Washington Nationals 3 vs. New York Mets 6
The New York Mets (19-17) are playing Game 37 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Washington Nationals (16-23) at Shea Stadium. It’s the second game of the four-game series. The game began at 7:10 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.
Nationals Lineup: Lopez, Guzman, Zimmerman, Johnson, Milledge, Kearns, Dukes, Nieves, Lannan.
Mets Lineup: Reyes, Church, Wright, Beltran, Alou, Delgado, Easley, Schneider, Maine.
On the Mound
John Maine (4-2) was the starting pitcher for the Mets. In the Top of the 1st, Maine hit Lopez with the first pitch of the game to give the Nationals a leadoff runner. Guzman grounded to short, and Reyes made the force out at second. Maine fanned Zimmerman. Johnson grounded to the pitcher, and Maine made the out at first to end the inning. Maine gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and 1 SO in the 1st Inning. In the Top of the 2nd, Kearns grounded a one-out single through the hole on the right side. Dukes drew a one-out walk. Nieves grounded to short, and Reyes got the lead runner out at third. Lannan grounded to the pitcher, and Maine made the out at first to end the inning. Maine gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning. In the Top of the 3rd, Guzman beat out a ground ball to second on a bad throw by Easley (Error on Damion Easley) to give the Nationals a one-out base runner. Ryan Zimmerman crushed a one-out 2-run homer to left field scoring Cristian Guzman. Johnson grounded out to first. Maine struck out Milledge again to end the inning. Maine gave up 1 Hit, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 3rd Inning. In the Top of the 4th, Maine pitched his first 1-2-3 inning of the game. Maine gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning. In the Top of the 5th, Maine retired the side for the second straight inning. Maine gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning. In the Top of the 6th, Milledge grounded to second but it went through Easley’s (Error on Damion Easley) legs so the Nationals have a two-out base runner. Maine struck out Kearns looking to end the inning. Maine gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning. Maine left the game after pitching 6.0 Innings allowing 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 1 ER, 1 BB, and he had 5 SOs.
Randolph replaced Maine with Matt Wise to begin the Top of the 7th. Dukes grounded a leadoff double down the left field line. Nieves grounded to third, and Wright made the out at first as Dukes advanced to third. Mackowiak is pinch hitting for Lannan, and Rob Mackowiak grounded out to second which scored Elijah Dukes. Lopez grounded to short, and Reyes made the out at first to end the inning. Wise gave up 1 Hit, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.
Randolph replaced Wise with Duaner Sanchez to begin the Top of the 8th. Guzman drew a leadoff walk. Zimmerman flied out to right. Johnson drew a one-out walk. Sanchez fanned Milledge on three straight pitches. Kearns grounded to third, and Wright got the force out at second to end the inning. Sanchez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 8th Inning.
Randolph replaced Sanchez with Billy Wagner to begin the Top of the 9th. Boone is pinch hitting for Hanrahan, and Boone lined a two-out single into center. Wagner fanned Lopez to end the game. Wagner gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 9th Inning.
At the Plate
John Lannan (3-3) was the starting pitcher for the Nationals. In the Bottom of the 1st, Wright lined a two-out single to left center. Beltran popped up to first to end the inning. Lannan gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and 0 SOs in the 1st Inning. In the Bottom of the 2nd, Alou grounded to deep short but Guzman threw off the bag so Alou ended up with a leadoff single. Delgado dropped down a bunt towards third (because nobody was there) so he ended up with a no-out single, and Alou went to second. Easley drew a no-out walk on four straight pitches to load the bases. Brian Schneider grounded to first, and the Nationals only got the out at second on the double play attempt as Moises Alou came home. Maine bunted towards the pitcher, and Lannan made the out at first as Schneider moved over to second. Reyes grounded to short, and Guzman made the out at first leaving two Mets in scoring position. Lannan gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 2nd Inning. In the Bottom of the 3rd, Ryan Church smacked a solo shot to dead center to lead off the inning. Wright grounded a no-out standup double down the right field line. Beltran grounded out to short. Alou popped up to shallow right, and Kearns made the catch. Delgado grounded out to second to end the inning. Lannan gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning. In the Bottom of the 4th, Schneider grounded a one-out single up the middle. Maine lined a one-out single into left, and Schneider advanced to second. Reyes grounded to third, and the Nationals turned the inning ending double play. Lannan gave up 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning. In the Bottom of the 5th, Beltran lined a two-out single up the middle. Alou grounded a two-out single up the middle, and Beltran advanced to second. Delgado flied out to the warning track in dead center to leave two Mets stranded. Lannan gave up 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 5th Inning. In the Bottom of the 6th, Schneider lined a one-out single into center. Tatis is pinch hitting for Maine, and Tatis lined a one-out single into right so Schneider went to second. Lannan fanned Reyes. Ryan Church lined a two-out 2-run double over Kearn’s head which scored Brian Schneider and Fernando Tatis. Wright grounded out to second to end the inning. Lannan gave up 3 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning. Lannan left the game after pitching 6.0 Innings allowing 12 Hits, 4 Runs, 4 ER, 1 BB, and he had 2 SOs.
Acta replaced Lannan with Luis Ayala to begin the Bottom of the 7th. Ayala retired the side in order. Ayala gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 7th Inning. In the Bottom of the 8th, Schneider led off by lining an opposite field double down the left field line. Anderson is pinch hitting for Sanchez, and Anderson drew a one-out walk. Jose Reyes lined a one-out RBI single up the middle which scored Brian Schneider, and Anderson went first to third because Milledge (Error on Lastings Milledge) bobbled the ball. Ayala gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning. Ayala left the game after pitching 1.1 Innings allowing 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ERs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO.
Acta replaced Ayala with Joel Hanrahan with one out in the Bottom of the 8th. Ryan Church flied out to right, and Marlon Anderson tagged up and scored. With Wright at the plate, Hanrahan threw a passed ball and Reyes advanced to second. Wright flied out to center to end the inning. Hanrahan gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.
Final Score: Washington Nationals 3 - New York Mets 6. The MLB.com Box Score is attached. John Maine (5-2) got the win and John Lannan (3-4) got the loss.
Well, the Mets settled the score with the Nats. It’s even at one with two games to go in the series. Maine pitched another pretty good game. Good enough to win the game. The Mets scored 4 runs off of Lannan, and then they were able to add on 2 insurance runs against the Bullpen in the 8th Inning. Schneider had the most hits in the game (3), and Church had the most RBIs in the game (4). So the former Nats made a statement against their former team. Yesterday, Milledge was the hero. Today, he was the goat. He went 0-4 with 3 SOs, and a costly Error out in center field. And most importantly, the win keeps the w-l-w-l-w-l-w-l streak going. For the ‘08 Mets, it’s all about .500.
