Huge fourth inning, dominant Clay Holmes lead Mets to needed win over Nationals
The fourth inning concluded Tuesday with a standing ovation from much of the small crowd at Citi Field, perhaps wondering if what it just witnessed was real.
But this wasn’t a mirage. The Mets sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and scored seven runs. Frustration turned to smiles. The Mets had it all together for a night.
The big inning propelled the Mets to snap a three-game skid with an 8-0 victory over the Nationals before an announced crowd of 33,622 that was much smaller.
In getting swept in three games by the Rockies over the weekend, the Mets scored only four combined runs to continue their season-long offensive woes.
Clay Holmes concluded his dominant April by pitching six shutout innings in which he allowed three hits and one walk with six strikeouts. The right-hander’s ERA dipped to 1.75 before Tobias Myers and Craig Kimbrel finished it.
Now the Mets need momentum. They began this homestand with a series victory over the Twins, and anything less against the underwhelming Nationals will only increase the volume on calls for manager Carlos Mendoza’s firing.
“It’s going to take that daily showing up and doing what we can to be a little bit better,” Holmes said. “I don’t think one day good or bad is really going to change much. I think it’s really having a long-term view if we really want to get where we want to go.”
The offensive fireworks included Juan Soto’s first homer since returning from the injured list last week. Soto’s two-run blast punctuated the Mets’ wild outburst in the fourth against Zack Littell.
Bo Bichette homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the first to get the runaway started. The blast was Bichette’s second this season.
“It sets the tone, first pitch of the game,” Mendoza said. “You want to get the guys going and the last thing you want — I am not going to say panic, but the fact we get the break, loosen it up, which is good to see.”
Jorbit Vivas’ error was the big play in the fourth that launched the Mets’ seven-run explosion. With the bases loaded, Vivas misplayed Marcus Semien’s grounder, allowing two runs to score. Carson Benge’s ensuing two-run single gave the Mets a 5-0 lead. Ronny Mauricio singled to continue the rally before Bichette hit a sacrifice fly. Soto cleared the fence in left-center for his second homer this season, a two-run blast that widened the gap to 8-0.
“I appreciate the effort that the guys put in,” Soto said. “After the Marcus ground ball everybody took great at-bats and getting base hits. Bo bringing the [run] with the sacrifice fly, it was really cool to see.”
MJ Melendez’s single started the big inning and walks to Mark Vientos and Brett Baty loaded the bases ahead of Vivas’ error.
“I think we all felt it there, like this is the break we have been looking for,” Mendoza said. “Not only that, just to be able to cash in, that is like the next step there … just putting guys on base, a couple of walks set up that situation. We were able to create traffic, which is something we weren’t able to do as of late.”
Soto also gave credit to Holmes following the right-hander’s impressive performance. Holmes has pitched at least five innings and allowed two runs or fewer in each of his six starts this season.
“He’s been doing it since last year,” Soto said. “No surprise what he’s been doing. He’s a grinder. He’s been putting in the work every day, so I am really happy to see that.”
