NEW YORK — As the New York Mets dashed onto the field Tuesday night, CJ Abrams took his spot in the on-deck circle following a four-game hiatus spent dealing with a left shoulder injury. Abrams has endured struggles in the season’s second half, much like the Washington Nationals as a whole. But his presence represented a potential jolt to the offense, and that sort of optimism was only heightened when he singled to start the game.
That was one of just four hits the Nationals managed in their 10-1 loss to the surging Mets at Citi Field. Dylan Crews had the other three — the rookie’s first three-hit game — while Washington went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base. The lopsided loss was quite a departure from Monday’s series-opening defeat, when the teams battled into the 10th inning before New York prevailed, 2-1.
“Just got to put it behind us and get ready for the game tomorrow,” Abrams said.
Even when the Nationals (68-83) scored in the third inning to grab the lead, they didn’t produce a hit. Jacob Young walked. Abrams reached on a fielder’s choice, and Young advanced to third base when shortstop Luisangel Acuña made a fielding error. James Wood, who turned 22 on Tuesday, hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Young. Runs-wise, that was it for the night.
This offense is on pace to produce one of the worst seasons in Nationals history. Entering Tuesday, the Nationals had a .688 OPS — tied for the worst with the 2022 squad, which won just 55 games. Their slugging percentage of .378 was the third worst behind those of the 2022 team (.377) and the 59-win Nationals of 2008 (.373).
And in September, the Nationals have been at their worst: They have their lowest batting average (.220) and OPS (.644) of any month this season. That’s due, in part, to an influx of inexperienced players getting their first opportunities in the big leagues.
“There’s a lot going on with these young kids,” Manager Dave Martinez said. “A lot of them are trying to prove that they belong here. They put too much pressure on themselves. You got to focus mentally and swing at strikes. We’ve chased a lot this month.”
But offense wasn’t the sole reason the Nationals were blown out Tuesday. Left-hander Mitchell Parker struggled with his command, and the Mets (83-68) took advantage when he walked Harrison Bader on four pitches to lead off the third. Acuña doubled to tie the score, then Jose Iglesias reached on an infield single when Parker forgot to cover first base. Parker walked Starling Marte to load the bases before Pete Alonso hit a bloop single down the right field line to score two. After Mark Vientos hit a sacrifice fly, the Mets led 4-1. (Parker ultimately allowed five runs and seven hits in 3⅔ innings as his ERA grew to 4.44.)
The Nationals had plenty of time to respond, but they didn’t. Mets right-hander Tylor Megill threw 47 four-seam fastballs among his 94 pitches over six innings, but the Nationals, who typically have success against fastballs, couldn’t make the necessary adjustments. They had eight whiffs on 24 swings at those four-seamers.
“We just couldn’t get on top of the fastball,” Martinez said. “We could have had him early — it just didn’t happen.”
The Nationals went down in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings — and by then, New York had the game under control. The Mets hit three home runs: Francisco Alvarez had a solo homer in the fourth, Alonso smashed a three-run blast in the sixth, and Acuña hit a solo shot, his first homer in the majors, in the eighth.
If there was a silver lining to be found in Tuesday’s loss, perhaps it was Crews’s seventh-inning at-bat. He entered the night 1 for 25 with 13 strikeouts against breaking balls, with his lone hit coming Sunday. In the seventh Tuesday, he singled on a sweeper.
The Nationals loaded the bases in that inning, but Wood struck out looking at a sweeper that appeared to be out of the strike zone. He walked somberly to the dugout, and soon after the Nationals suffered another loss in a game with major playoff implications for the wild-card-seeking Mets.
“These are just situations that we want to be in,” Wood said. “You just got to come prepared. We can take a swing, and they’re going to swing back. So once they swing back, we got to be ready to swing again. Just got to learn from it and be better next time.”
Injury updates
Second baseman Luis García Jr. left the game in the fourth inning; he said his right wrist was bothering him after his final swing in the third. Martinez took him out as a precaution. ...
Martinez said right-hander Cade Cavalli will continue his throwing program in Florida but will not pitch in a game before the season ends. Cavalli returned to West Palm Beach last month to ramp up after experiencing dead arm during his rehabilitation process from Tommy John surgery in March 2023. Cavalli, a first-round pick in 2020, made his MLB debut Aug. 26, 2022, and that remains his lone appearance. Martinez said he wants to make sure Cavalli is healthy and ready for spring training. …
Outfielder Alex Call could go on a short rehab assignment soon before rejoining the Nationals for the final week of the season. He suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot last month. He was hitting .343 with a .425 on-base percentage and three home runs in 30 games.
