Mets fans must have gone through a wide range of emotions last night. I bet when they looked at the schedule in early September and saw 6 games against the Nationals, they believed their spot in the play offs was secure. The lowly Nationals were sure to give the Mets a few easy series. However, as Bob Carpenter said last night, the Nats are anything but lowly, and they proved it last night.
A dazzling come from behind win gave our boys a series sweep, and put the play off fate of the Mets in serious question. The Nats have taken 5 of the last 6 against the Mets, and energetically head to Philly to do some more damage. Say what you want about our team but one thing is for sure, these guys don’t ever give up, they play with heart and a passion for the game that goes beyond win/loss records and payroll. With last night’s 72nd win, the Nats have won more games this season than last year even with the absence of players like Soriano, Gullien, and Vidro. That’s quite an accomplishment for a team that was not expected to win 30 games. The amount of desire, determination, and heart these guys have shown all season has certainly paid off.
Granted things got off to a rocky start last night with Mike Bacsik on the mound. Mike really had a rough outing and gave up 5 runs on 7 hits. He gave up three homers in 2 innings, and the Mets lead by five. At that point it looked like it was going to be a long night. However, when Hanrahan came in as relief things started to look up. In fact, the RBI single Hanrahan gave up in fourth would be the last for the Mets.
Ryan Chruch had quite a night getting the Nats on the board in the fourth with a beautiful two run homer. He gave the boys the spark they needed, the Nats came back to score five runs in the fifth inning. We saw singles from Lopez, Zimmerman, and Kearns (he had a heck of a series and is on yahoo sports hot list!), and doubles from Belliard, Church, and Pena. The Nats led 7-6 after the bottom of the 5th. What a come back!
We saw some great relief work last night from Schroder, Albaladejo, and Rivera. The Nats turned a great 6-4-3 in the 6th. Both Zimmerman and Fick had great defensive plays in the 8th inning guarding the line well.
The Nats put some more runs on the board in the 9th when Ronnie B led off with a single. Kearns followed with a walk. Chruch came through for the second time last night and hit his 43rd double to score Kearns and Belliard. He had a great night with two monster hits and four RBI’s.
After his struggles last night, we were curious if the Chief would make an appearance to close the 9th. Apparently he wasn’t feeling well, so Luis Ayala came in to save the game. Ayala was on fire! He was throwing nothing but strikes. He went 1-2-3 with a strike out, a 5-3, and a pop out to Zimmerman to win the game. Ayala is looking better each game and we hope he returns to his 2005 self soon!
Here’s hoping this momentum carries over to the Phillies this weekend. Hopefully we will see some familiar Nats fans there! We also want to congratulate Justin Maxwell and John Lannan, they were named as minor league player and pitcher of the year.
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