Mets 8, Nationals 5
WASHINGTON -- Yoenis Cespedes had two doubles, a homer, two runs and two RBIs as the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 8-5 on Monday to extend their lead to five games in the National League East before a crowd of 34,210 on Labor Day in the nation's capital.
Cespedes, the center fielder, had a two-out RBI double off Matt Thornton to highlight a three-run seventh as the Mets took an 8-5 lead. Third baseman David Wright had an RBI single and first baseman Daniel Murphy drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before Cespedes came through with his third hit in a row.
The Mets (76-61) improved to 8-6 against the Nationals this year while Washington (71-66) saw its five-game winning streak come to an end at an inopportune time.
The winning pitcher was Dario Alvarez (1-0) while Blake Treinen (2-3) was tagged with the loss. It was the first career win for Alvarez, who appeared in his first game with the Mets this year after four appearances in 2014.
The Mets had tied the game in the sixth when catcher Travis d'Arnaud had a sacrifice fly to score Cespedes, who led off with a double and went to third on a balk by Washington ace Max Scherzer.
The Washington starter did not figure in the decision as he allowed five runs and seven hits, including three solo homers, in six innings and saw his ERA climb over 3.00, to 3.03, for the first time this year.
Washington catcher Wilson Ramos had blasted a 1-2 pitch from Mets starter Jonathon Niese over the Mets bullpen in left for a grand slam to give the Nationals a 4-3 lead in the fourth.
Later in the inning left fielder Jayson Werth (two hits) had an RBI double to make it 5-3 but Scherzer and the bullpen couldn't hold the lead.
Cespedes had lofted a homer just over the reach of Werth in the fourth to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. It was the 13th homer for Cespedes since Aug. 1 and the 18th since the All-Star break.
The Mets grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second on a pair of solo homers. Left fielder Michael Conforto, a rookie, led off with his sixth career homer, and starting second baseman Kelly Johnson went deep to right with one out.
The last home win for Scherzer was June 22 when he threw a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has allowed 24 homers this year after giving up just 18 in each of the previous two seasons with the Detroit Tigers.
Niese gave up five runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings and has yielded 23 earned runs in his last four starts.
Jeurys Familia pitched the ninth for the Mets to get his 37th save as he fanned right fielder Bryce Harper for the second out and fanned first baseman Ryan Zimmerman for the last out with a runner on base as shadows crept in front of the batter's box.
Zimmerman, shortstop Ian Desmond and third baseman Yunel Escobar had two hits. Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson and starting shortstop Wilmer Flores, who later moved to second, also had two hits while Granderson also walked twice as the leadoff man.
NOTES: Mets IB Lucas Duda was activated off the disabled list prior to Monday's game. He went on the DL Aug. 22 with lower back soreness. He went 1-for-3 with Double-A Binghamton in a minor league rehab appearance Sunday ... Mets RHP Carlos Torres left the game in the fifth inning while favoring his right leg, which he seemed to injure while throwing out CF Michael A. Taylor on an infield dribbler to the right of the mound. ... Mets RHP Matt Harvey (12-7, 2.60 ERA), the subject of much discussion on a possible innings limit, will face Washington RHP Jordan Zimmermann (12-8, 3.38 ERA) in the second game of the series Tuesday. ... New York RHP Tyler Clippard (2-1, 1.27 ERA for the Mets this year) was a member of the Nationals from 2008-2014. He was traded by Washington to Oakland in January and then by Oakland to the Mets in July.