The New York Mets rode a bounce back start from Robert Stock and a spark-plug homer from Francisco Lindor to a solid 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals in the first game of their three-game series.
This was Stock’s third start for the Mets, and he’s either been very good or very bad so far. The 36-year old right-hander was good again in this one, as he pitched 4-1/3 innings of one-run ball that included three hit, three walks and five strikeouts to go with an unearned run.
That run came in the fourth inning that featured yet another error from Lindor, who’s having a rough year in the field. CJ Abrams started the rally off in the fourth, and he was safe at second after Lindor made an error on a groundout by Abimelec Ortiz that put him on third. A single by Brady House drove him home to give Washington a lead.
The Mets struggled early with Nationals starter Andrew Alvarez, who had a shutout going through five frames. Lindor atoned for his miscue, though, with a solo home run that got the Mets going and sparked a brief rally.
Bo Bichette then wound up on first after striking out as he beat the throw to first following what was ruled a wild pitch, and Luis Robert Jr. singled him to third. Carson Benge then singled to get Bichette home and make it 2-1 Mets.
The Mets padded their lead in the seventh on a solo home run by Jared Young, and Bichette singled home another run with an RBI base hit after a pair of walks from Washington reliever Jake Bird, with Bichette’s hit coming off Max Kranick.
That made it 4-1, and the Mets did some fine work after Stock left in the fifth. Nate Lavender got a pair of outs in the fourth to pick up Stock, and Jonathan Pintaro got his first win of the season as he went two innings. Daniel Duarte pitched a scoreless eighth to drop his ERA to 0.98, and Kodai Senga got his second save of the season as his experiment at closer continued successfully.
The win got the Mets back on track after they dropped two of three to the Atlanta Braves, and they’re now 7-3 in their last ten games. They’ll try to pick up a series win this afternoon as they send Sean Manaea to the mound against Brad Lord for the Nationals.