The New York Mets lost their third straight game on Wednesday night. This time the loss could not be pinned on the bullpen as the Washington Nationals jumped on an early lead and hung on for a 5-3 win.
It was only the third start of the season for right-hander Jeremy Hefner who opened the year in the bullpen. An error and a walk put two on the bags in the first inning. Adam LaRoche took Hefner deep after that to give Washington a 3-0 lead.
Lucas Duda drove in a run in the fourth inning to make it a 3-2 game, but Washington managed to find runs to stave off the Mets. LaRoche struck again in the seventh on a sac fly to give the Nationals their final run. Sean Burnett held the lead and Tyler Clippard picked up his fifth save.
This was the third loss in the row for the Mets. They are now two and a half games behind Washington in the National League East. New York has one more game in this series against the Nationals at 1:05 p.m. on Thursday.
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