The 22 year-old rookie they call Thor, Noah Syndergaard, took the ball in front of a emphatic Citi Field crowd Sunday night and never looked back as the New York Mets, aided by another Lucas Duda homer and a three-home run inning, finished off the three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals, 5-2.
Syndergaard came out of the gates firing but one fastball on a 2-0 count that caught too much of the plate got him into an early 1-0 hole as Anthony Rendon shot it just above the orange home run line in center field.
The Nationals' starter, Jordan Zimmermann, came into this game having had tons of recent success against the Mets and Sunday looked to be some of the same making it through the first two innings without allowing a base runner. But a leadoff walk in the third inning to Kevin Plawecki gave this new-look Mets' offense some life.
The pitcher, Syndergaard, batting 8th for the Mets, was able to bunt Plawecki into scoring position at second base with one out. Ruben Tejada then drilled a line drive back at Zimmermann that he somehow caught and Washington was one out away from holding the 1-0 lead. Then, on a 2-2 pitch to Curtis Granderson, Zimmermann hung a breaking ball that got deposited for two into the right field seats. Before 40,000-plus fans could even sit down Daniel Murphy then rifled a first-pitch high fastball into the right field upper deck all of a sudden giving the Mets a 3-1 lead.
Newly acquired OF Yoenis Cespedes came up next and he got his first hit as a New York Met with a ground ball single through the left side bringing up to the plate the red-hot Lucas Duda. Duda took another first pitch fastball from Zimmermann and somehow kept it fair off the right field foul pole giving him his ninth home run in eight games and the Mets a 5-1 lead.
The young Syndergaard since giving up that home run to Rendon retired the next 15 0f 16 batters he faced before giving up another solo home run to Yunel Escobar in the top of the 6th. After back-to-back singles by Rendon and Bryce Harper following the home run, Syndergaard looked to be in trouble with still only one out and a 5-2 lead. Syndergaard, though, settled himself down getting Ryan Zimmerman to fly out to center field and then Jayson Werth to ground out to second base to end the inning.
Having used much of the bullpen the last couple nights, the Mets and manager Terry Collins looked for Syndergaard to go deep into tonights game. Despite some trouble in the 7th and 8th inning Syndergaard was able to get a big double play along with a strikeout on Harper to end his night while still holding that 5-2 cushion.
The final line on Noah Syndergaard was 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB and 9 SO showcasing another stellar performance by this rookie.
The ex-Nationals' reliever and one of the players the Mets picked up at the trade deadline, Tyler Clippard, came in to close out the game in the 9th inning and he did without skipping a beat as chants of "we want first place" rocked through Citi Field.
Both the New York Mets and Washington Nationals now are tied on top of the NL East division with just under two months to go in the season, though it seems both teams could be heading in opposite directions.
After the many moves made leading up to the trade deadline the Mets' management has given this team confidence that they can win. This series sweep could be a pivotal turning point on both these teams seasons leading up to October.
Monday, the Mets look to continue their hot streak as they travel to Miami to face the Marlins in a three-game series while the Nationals will head back to D.C. to face the Diamondbacks in a four-game series.