Noah Syndergaard bounces back after rough start, tosses seven shutout innings at the Washington Nationals.
He goes 7 scoreless innings after allowing career-worst 10 runs in previous start
Noah Syndergaard had far too much time to dwell on allowing a career-high 10 runs in his last start. One thought, in particular, continued to surface.
“I wanted to make sure that never happened again,” the Mets’ righty said.
There was never a hint it would Monday as Syndergaard pitched seven shutout innings and struck out 10 as New York handled Washington 7-3.
Jeff Mcneil hit a two-run homer for New York, which played a holiday afternoon game about 15 hours after falling at Philadelphia on Sunday night. The Mets remained four games behind the Cubs for a wild-card spot.
The loss ended the Nats’ four-game win streak and denied them from moving 20 games over .500 for the first time this season. Syndergaard was easily the biggest reason, allowing three hits without a walk.
“He was real good, I mean real good,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “He got us to chase the ball up. Threw a lot more breaking balls than I’ve seen (him) throw before.”
Syndergaard (10-7) allowed a leadoff single to Trea Turner, then retired the next 16. It was Syndergaard’s third 10-strikeout performance of the season and the 17th of his career.
Syndergaard needed only 90 pitches to make it through the seventh. It was the sixth time in seven starts he pitched at least six innings and allowed two runs or less.
“Today was vintage Noah,” Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “This is what he’s extremely capable of on an everytime-he-goes-out-there basis. He was hitting his spots, and with the stuff he has when he’s hitting his spots, good luck up there.”
Mcneil was mired in a career-worst 0-for-15 slump before sending Joe Ross’ two-out sinker into the seats in the fourth inning. That ignited a five-run rally which included J.D. Davis’ two-run double to chase Ross (3-4) and Nimmo’s RBI double to greet reliever Austin Voth that made it 7-0.
New York took a 2-0 lead in the second on Joe Panik’s RBI double and Rene Rivera’s run-scoring single.
Ross allowed seven runs in 32/3 innings. He surrendered three runs in 252/3 innings in five starts in August.
The Nats avoided the shutout when ex-met Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Tyler Bashlor.
Nimmo (neck) made his first start since May 19 after spending more than three months on the injured list. He was 1-for-3 with two walks.