Mets stay unbeaten in 10 series behind Walker’s arm, Canha’s bat
Taijuan Walker stood astride Juan Soto after tagging him out during a collision at third base that the Washington outfielder thought was more violent than it needed to be.
Walker and the Mets are punishing the NL East.
Walker pitched seven innings of no-fuss, scoreless ball, and New York remained unbeaten in 10 series this season, cruising past the sloppy Nationals 4-1 on Thursday in Washington.
The burly right-hander tagged Soto at third after the Nationals’ best hitter made an elementary baserunning gaffe, getting himself into a rundown after Josh Bell hit a grounder to the left side. Soto slid into Walker’s forearm a few feet in front of the bag and argued for an obstruction call, but Walker already had the ball when Soto got there.
“It was unexpected. I got a little mad because it was a rundown and I didn’t think he was going to slide into me,” Walker said. “Smart play, I guess, the guy was going to second, but in the moment, I wasn’t too happy about it.”
After tagging Soto, Walker threw wildly to second base, and right fielder Starling Marte threw back to third to nail Bell and end the Nationals’ best chance to rally.
“Things like that, when we’re behind like that, those are not good baserunning decisions,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “We need to make better decisions.”
Former A’s outfielder Mark Canha went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs for the first-place Mets, who took two of three from the last-place Nationals. New York has won nine series and split one, and hasn’t lost two straight games in a month.
“We have a hitter of the day. We give the award out when we come in,” Canha said. “Today, it was me, and then, what’s cool about this team is, I feel like, I’m pretty sure all our hitters have won the award at some point this year. … Someone always is the hero, and that’s been the coolest part of this year.”
Walker (1-0) allowed three hits, walked one and threw 85 pitches in the longest of his four starts this season, which was interrupted by a stint on the injured list with right shoulder bursitis.
Seth Lugo struck out two in the eighth and Edwin Diaz allowed Soto’s two-out homer in the ninth before retiring Bell to complete the four-hitter.
Soto said he was at fault on the rundown play, which came after he opened the fourth inning with a double off the wall in right-center.
“I was just caught in the middle of nothing,” he said. “I tried to slide. I didn’t try to hurt him or anything like that. He’s got to give me room to at least slide on the base.”
The Mets managed only five hits, but they went ahead 2-0 in the first inning on Canha’s bases-loaded single. New York took advantage of wild starter Joan Adon (1-6), who walked five of the first 10 batters he faced.
Canha homered off Steve Cishek in the ninth.
Astros beat Twins twice:
Luis Garcia and three relievers combined on a seven-hitter, Yordan Alvarez homered twice and Jeremy Pena capped a big day with three hits as Houston extended its winning streak to 10 games with a 5-0 victory in Minneapolis.
Before the regularly scheduled game, the teams completed a game suspended after three innings Wednesday night because of severe weather. Jose Altuve homered, doubled and drove in three runs in an 11-3 Houston romp.
The Astros have given up just 11 runs during the streak with five shutouts and an 0.90 ERA over that stretch. Orioles 3, Cardinals 2: Rylan Bannon got a hit on the first pitch of his big-league career, Jorge Mateo and Anthony Bemboom homered and Baltimore won in St. Louis.
Bannon, a 26-year-old third baseman, was called up from Triple-A Norfolk before the game and singled on a changeup from Steven Matz (3-3) with two outs in the second inning, one batter after Mateo homered to put the Orioles ahead.
Reds 4, Pirates 0: Connor Overton got his first majorleague win and combined with two relievers on a four-hitter for visiting Cincinnati’s first shutout of the season.
Overton (1-0) allowed three hits and four walks in 61⁄3 innings with one strikeout. Harper moves to DH: The Phillies’ Bryce Harper has a small tear in his right elbow and won’t throw for four weeks, but the reigning NL MVP will stay in the lineup as Philadelphia’s designated hitter.
Harper will receive a platelet-rich-plasma injection Sunday and won’t play that day, manager Joe Girardi said before Thursday night’s game at Dodger Stadium.
Harper was hitting .269 with six home runs, 19 RBIs and an .847 OPS going into the series opener against Los Angeles.