Matt Harvey Pulled After Rain Delay, Mets Fall 5-0 To Nationals

The Washington Nationals cruised to a 5-0 home victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night despite two rain delays totaling two hours and 20 minutes, while the Mets’ Matt Harvey was pulled early after one of the delays.

Matt Harvey Pulled After Rain Delay, Mets Fall 5-0 To Nationals

The Nationals, who also beat the Mets 11-4 on Monday in the three-game series opener are now five games ahead of the Mets in the National League East. Washington right-hander Lucas Giolito– baseball’s No. 1 prospect– made his Major League debut. Before the rain stopped his outing, 21-year-old Giolito threw four shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.

“He was very good,” manager Dusty Baker said of Giolito. “We were hoping that the rain would subside and it didn’t. He showed good control. He got out of whack a little there, but found it back. He had a good fastball that we knew and he threw some outstanding breaking balls and a few changeups.”

The Nationals took the lead while Giolito was on the mound. Catcher Wilson Ramos scored on a triple by Anthony Rendon off Harvey in the bottom of the second inning. The rain also prevented Harvey from going deep in the game. He lasted 3 2/3 innings and allowed one run on four hits.

“I’m not really looking at it as stepping stones anymore,” said Harvey (4-10), whose ERA has fallen from 6.08 to 4.55 over his last six starts. “It’s a long season. There are battles throughout.”

The right-hander also struck out three and walked three.

After Harvey left the game, Washington took advantage and furthered their lead thanks to All-Star candidates Ramos, Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy. 

Harper blasted a two-run homer– his 16th of the season– to right field off left-hander Jerry Blevins in the fifth to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead. Murphy, who leads the Majors in hitting, then walked in intentionally to face Ramos, who doubled to deep center to drive in two runs.

“It’s frustrating,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “But it’s part of the game and part of the things you’ve got to battle through. It seems like we’ve been down this path a few times, and we’ll get through it.”

In the sixth, the Mets had the bases loaded with one out, prompting Baker to take Yusmeiro Petit out of the game in favor of left-hander Oliver Perez, who was able to get out of the jam. Perez struck out James Loney and retired Wilmer Flores on a fly ball to center to earn his second victory of the season.

The Mets also faced a scary moment in the seventh, when right-hander Hansel Robles fell to the ground after a Ryan Zimmerman line drive struck him in the leg. After several moments, however, Robles walked off, apparently not seriously injured.

The two teams will next face off for their series finale at Nationals Park on Wednesday night. With originally scheduled starter Steven Matz pushed back a day to nurse a bone spur in his elbow, the Mets (40-36, 3rd in NL East) will turn to right-hander Logan Verrett for his fifth spot start of the season.

Right-hander Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Nationals (46-32, 1st in NL East). Since he joined Washington at the start of last season, Scherzer has posted a 2.00 ERA in five starts against the Mets, including an outing on May 17 this season when he allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts.