The Washington Nationals used two home runs from catcher Wilson Ramos and one from outfielder Jayson Werth to get on the board Tuesday night, but it wasn't enough as the New York Mets hit around Nationals pitching and came away with the win 6-4 at Nationals Park.
Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann never looked strong, going five-innings giving up five runs on nine hits, but reliever Doug Slaten also deserves some of the blame as he replaced Zimmermann in the fifth and gave up the two-run double to Josh Thole that went out of reach of outfielder Michael Morse that broke a 3-3 tie. The two runs were charged to Zimmermann and the damage was done. The Mets had no need of the long ball as they spread around 12 hits and got runs to come in across the plate. The Nationals on the other hand, once again could not string hits together at the proper times.
The only positives to the Nationals game was Ramos' 3-for-4 night with two home runs and three RBI. Ramos scored an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth as the Nats final run. Ramos is now hitting .378. Also, Zimmermann pushed the Nationals streak of starting pitchers who go five-innings or more consecutively to a record 22, but that is small comfort to the struggling Zimmermann.
The Nationals now have a record of 10-12 and are fourth place in the NL East. The Mets trail the Nats in the standings by half a game. By the end of this series, one of these teams will be in the NL East cellar.