Raburn’s hit helps Nats survive bullpen collapse
Outfielder delivers walk-off single
WASHINGTON —The fireworks started once the bullpens showed up in Washington.
Ryan Raburn drove in the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Nationals survived another late-inning collapse for a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets on Monday night.
Curtis Granderson, out of the starting lineup with a right hip muscle strain, tied the game with a two-out, two-run homer off Nationals reliever Matt Albers (4-1). Granderson’s heroics came after Michael Taylor’s two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth broke the scoreless tie.
Matt Wieters opened the ninth with a walk against Paul Sewald (0-3), moved to second following a sacrifice bunt and took third on Adam Lind’s deep fly ball.
Following Stephen Drew’s walk, Raburn’s slow, looping liner to left field off Fernando Salas fell in front of a diving Yoenis Cespedes, scoring Wieters.
“I was watching the umpire and I (saw) him say safe,” Raburn said. “I was hoping it would stay that way and then I saw them talking and I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ But it fell in.”
Granderson also wasn’t confident his hit would fall.
“I was just hopeful that it would get out because I wasn’t sure what I was going to be able to do after that in terms of trying to go extra bases or anything like that,” he said. “The fact that it just went just enough was a good thing.”
Washington’s Stephen Strasburg and Mets starter Steven Matz each tossed seven scoreless innings in their respective no-decisions. Then chaos ensued.
Nationals left fielder Brian Goodwin kept the game scoreless in the top of the eighth by throwing out Brandon Nimmo trying to score from second on Jose Reyes’ base hit. No defense could stop Granderson’s ball from reaching the stands.
“The biggest downer in baseball is a blown save late,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. “You don’t want to beleaguer the fact, but the opposition knows as well.”