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Mets can’t contain Nats, but hang on to 2nd WC
- Updated: September 13, 2016
WASHINGTON — After watching how the Mets rode their young starting pitchers to the World Series in 2015, the Nationals began this season encouraged to have their own pair of young pitching prospects ready to provide a boost down the stretch. However, both Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez — respectively Washington’s No. 1 and No. 3 prospects as rated by MLB Pipeline — have been ineffective in the Majors, forcing the Nationals to start right-hander Mat Latos on Monday night at Nationals Park.
Before Latos’ spot start was cut short by a tight right hamstring, he filled in admirably, including launching a solo homer to help lead the Nationals to an 8-1 trouncing of the Mets.
“He had good mound presence,” Washington manager Dusty Baker said. “He was throwing the ball downhill. He had a good cutter that jammed a couple guys. He had pretty good command with his fastball and his changeup. I’ve seen him hit before, and I know he can hit. … That was big for us to win that game.”
Washington extended its lead in the National League East to 10 games and reduced its magic number to nine, but each loss is much more crucial for the Mets, who are competing for position in the NL Wild Card race. Because the Cardinals also lost Monday, New York retained a half-game lead for the NL’s second Wild Card spot.
The Mets announced after the game that they will not start right-hander Rafael Montero again after a disastrous outing Monday night. He surrendered six runs in 1 2/3 innings, including a four-run second, when he allowed the homer to Latos and a three-run homer to Anthony Rendon.
“It’s pretty frustrating, because he does have good stuff,” manager Terry Collins said. “You can see when he’s actually throwing strikes, there’s not a lot of good swings. But he gets himself in trouble because he gets behind in counts and ends up giving up good pitches to hit. Energy came out …
