The New York Mets spent the first week of June leaving their May performance in the past.
Unfortunately for the Washington Nationals, they did the same thing.
The Mets will look to remain red-hot on Tuesday night when they host the struggling Nationals in the opener of a three-game series between the longtime National League East rivals.
Right-hander Griffin Canning (6-2, 2.90 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against left-hander MacKenzie Gore (3-5, 2.87 ERA).
Both teams were off Monday after playing matinees on Sunday, when the Mets completed a three-game sweep of the host Colorado Rockies with a 13-5 win and Washington fell to the visiting Texas Rangers 4-2 in the rubber match of a three-game set.
Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil hit two homers apiece on Sunday for the Mets, who outscored the Rockies 25-8 at Coors Field and finished 5-2 on a road trip against Colorado and the Los Angeles Dodgers as they improved to an NL-best 42-24 overall.
The Mets, who opened the month by beating Colorado 5-3 at home, and the San Francisco Giants are the only teams in the majors with six wins this June. In eight games this month, New York has scored at least five runs in a game six times and has scored 50 runs overall — tied for the most in the majors with the Boston Red Sox.
The Mets scored just 107 runs in May, the sixth-fewest in the majors, while plating five or more runs just 12 times in 27 games.
“I thought everyone played great this week,” McNeil said. “For the pitchers, this is a tough place to throw the ball and I feel they threw the ball pretty well. And the bats came alive.”
The bats went silent last week for the Nationals, who appeared to be on the verge of a long-awaited climb above .500 before going 2-4 during a homestand against the Rangers and Chicago Cubs to fall to 30-35.
The Nationals, whose 455 losses since winning the World Series in 2019 are the second-most in baseball entering Monday, haven’t been above .500 in June or later since they were 40-39 on July 1, 2021.
Washington was outscored 24-10 by the Rangers and Cubs and has scored a major league-low 11 runs this month. The Nationals ranked ninth in the majors with 133 runs in May and ended the month with a four-game winning streak, during which they scored a whopping 38 runs against the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks.
“We can switch the lineup, I can sit guys out, I might have to platoon guys,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “But when it does get through, you see the results. It’s there. And they all can do it. I know it. I’ve seen it.”
Canning and Gore each earned the win with similar scoreless efforts in their most recent starts last Wednesday. Canning allowed three hits and walked one with seven strikeouts over six innings as the Mets beat the Dodgers 6-1; Gore surrendered three hits, walked one and whiffed seven over a season-high seven innings to lead the Nationals to a 2-0 victory over the Cubs.
Canning is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three career starts against the Nationals. Gore is 1-3 with a 4.55 ERA in six starts against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
