Strasburg improves to 8-0 as Nats top Mets
WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 batters and improved to 8-0, and the first-place Washington Nationals hit a season-high five home runs in a 7-4 win over the New York Mets on Tuesday.
The Nationals evened the three-game series heading into the finale Wednesday afternoon.
Strasburg allowed four hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings before Felipe Rivero came on the seventh to fan pinch hitter Juan Lagares for the final out with two runners on base.
Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy went deep against struggling Mets starter Matt Harvey (3-7). In the seventh, leadoff man Ben Revere clubbed his first homer of the year against lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo to make it 6-2.
Washington's Wilson Ramos hit a solo homer in the eighth off Jim Henderson, increasing the margin to 7-2.
Harvey has allowed 16 earned runs in his past three starts and has his club searching for answers. The right-hander, whose ERA climbed to 6.08, was hitting 96 mph with his fastball on the stadium radar gun early on, but Washington got to him in its second and third trips through the lineup.
Murphy, Zimmerman and Revere each had two hits. Yoenis Cespedes had two hits for New York, who won its previous four games. Washington (28-18) beat the Mets for the first time in five games at Nationals Park and extended its lead in the division to 1 1/2 games.
New York (26-19) trimmed the lead to 5-2 when Eric Campbell drove in a run on a fielder's choice in the seventh. The game's final runs came on Campbell's two-run homer in the ninth off Shawn Kelley.
The Nationals scored three runs in the fifth to take a 5-1 lead. Bryce Harper drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and the next batter, Murphy, lined a two-run homer to right off Harvey.
It was seventh homer of the year for Murphy, who also went deep against Harvey last week in New York.
Zimmerman and Rendon hit back-to-back solo homers off Harvey with one out in the fourth to give the Nationals a 2-1 advantage.
It was the sixth homer of the year for Zimmerman and third for Rendon, who has hit better than .400 since moving from the No. 2 hole to the No. 6 spot one week ago.
Asdrubal Cabrera, who played for Washington during part of the 2014 season, lined a homer to right off Strasburg to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
Harvey was lifted after giving up five runs and eight hits in five innings with just one strikeout and two walks.
NOTES: Between May 9 and Tuesday, the Nationals' bullpen has not allowed 22 inherited runners to score. ... Washington OF Bryce Harper, who was hitting .209 in his past 30 games, was on the field taking batting practice four hours before the first pitch. He went 1-for-4. ... Mets 3B David Wright and Nationals 1B Ryan Zimmerman were travel club teammates while growing up in the Virginia Beach area. Wright did not play as the Mets manage his workload. ... Nationals RHP Tanner Roark (3-3, 2.89 ERA) will face Mets LHP Steven Matz (6-1, 2.81) in the series finale Wednesday afternoon.