The New York Mets at least made it interesting on Wednesday night. After another round of bullpen struggles and a lack of offense, they nearly closed a three-run deficit in the ninth inning before ultimately falling to the Washington Nationals by a final score of 4-3.
Starting pitcher Chris Young gave the Mets a solid six innings, allowing a pair of runs in the sixth when Adam LaRoche sent one over the fence. That scored Bryce Harper and put New York in a 2-0 hole. Aside from the home run, it was a solid outing from Young after getting smacked around to the tune of five runs in three innings by the Braves in his last outing.
In the seventh inning, Andres Torres put the Mets on the board. He hit a single to right that scored Lucas Duda, cutting it to a one-run deficit. At that point the bull pen made its contribution in the loss.
Miguel Batista came in to work the seventh. After getting two outs, he allowed a pair of singles, before a double from Stephen Lombardozzi drove in both runners to make it 4-1.
Things got interesting again in the top of the ninth. David Wright opened the inning with a solo shot over to right-center. With two outs, Jason Bay came to the plate, driving the ball over the left field wall for his fifth home run of the year. Jordany Valdespin, the pinch hitter, struck out swinging to end the inning.
The loss is the sixth straight for the Mets, who have yet to win a game since the All-Star break. They have another chance on Thursday at 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
Read more on the Mets at Amazin Avenue and head over to Federal Baseball for more on the Nationals. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.