Frazier’s groundout helps Mets grind one out
WASHINGTON — The Nationals decided they wanted to face Todd Frazier instead of Michael Conforto with the game on the line Saturday.
The Mets third baseman followed through with his weakest contact of the day to make it hurt.
After the pinch-hitting Conforto was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners with one out in the seventh inning of a tie game, Frazier fouled off two sinkers be- fore finally poking an 0-2 changeup up the middle. Conforto was off on the pitch — which Frazier didn’t know — and it played out perfectly, with second baseman Howie Kendrick’s bobble of the ground ball ruining any chance of a double play before he threw Frazier out at first. Asdrubal Cabrera came in the backdoor from third to score the eventual winning run in a 3-2 victory at Nationals Park.
Frazier had struck out facing the same scenario — runners on the corners, one out — in the first inning, but cashed in on his second chance as he slowed himself down to get the decisive RBI.
“[I was] a little anxious after the first time I had a chance in the first inning, but we’re human too,” Frazier said. “At the same time, just finding a way to put the ball in play and get that run in.”
Frazier had helped the Nationals take the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. He sailed a throw over the head of first baseman Wilmer Flores, allowing Michael A. Taylor to reach base and eventually score two batters later, but he didn’t have to wait long for redemption.
With one out in the top of the sixth, Frazier came up and slapped an opposite-field double off the top of the right-field wall. It may have gone out on a warmer day, or perhaps in his old home at Yankee Stadium, but he settled for two bases and came around to score on an RBI single from Travis d’Arnaud to tie the game at one.
“I’m not really a guy that hits opposite-field home runs,” Frazier said. “It was good to get a double, kick- start it, especially after I made that error. We got a good run back and felt better about the game after that.”
Especially after his RBI groundout in the seventh, helping the Mets clinch a series win against their NL East rivals.
“People always talk about, ‘ Oh man, it’s early. You need these games late,’ ” Frazier said. “We need every game. That’s a blunt way of putting it. I don’t care if it’s early, middle of the season or late. Every win counts.”