Murphy carries Nationals with four RBIs against former team
NEW YORK -- Daniel Murphy continued to dominate his former club when the Washington Nationals second baseman went 3-for-4 with four RBIs to spark a 6-1 win over the New York Mets on Saturday night at Citi Field.
The Nationals (53-36) have won two straight over the Mets (47-40) to ensure they'll reach the All-Star break with no worse than the four-game lead they had heading into the four-game series that began Thursday.
Murphy, who spent his first seven big league seasons with the Mets and won National League Championship Series MVP honors last fall before signing a three-year deal with the Nationals in December, struck out in the first inning before delivering an RBI single in the third, an RBI double in the fourth and a two-run homer in the seventh.
With a chance at the cycle in the ninth, Murphy drew an eight-pitch walk.
The homer was the career-high 16th this season for Murphy, who leads the NL in batting at .349. He is hitting a robust .438 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 12 games against the Mets.
Ben Revere had an RBI triple and Clint Robinson lofted a sacrifice fly for the Nationals.
Right-hander Max Scherzer (10-6) picked up the win after allowing an unearned run, three hits and two walks while striking out nine in seven innings.
Neil Walker had a sacrifice fly in the first for the Mets and Alejandro De Aza reached base in all three plate appearances via two singles and a walk.
Right-hander Logan Verrett (3-6) took the loss in his first start since replacing injured Matt Harvey in the Mets' rotation. Verrett allowed five runs, four hits and five walks while striking out three.
The Mets took a quick lead in the first, when Jose Reyes drew a four-pitch leadoff walk, went to second on a single by Curtis Granderson, advanced to third on an errant throw to the infield by left fielder Jayson Werth and scored on Walker's sacrifice fly.
The Nationals capitalized on four Verrett walks to score four runs over the next four innings. Robinson's second-inning sacrifice fly scored Bryce Harper, who had drawn a leadoff walk. Scherzer walked leading off the third and scored on a triple by Ben Revere, who trotted home on Murphy's one-out single.
In the fifth, Werth walked with two outs and scored on Murphy's RBI double.
NOTES: Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard, who left Friday's start after 4 2/3 innings because of arm fatigue, underwent tests that revealed no structural damage. Manager Terry Collins said Syndergaard probably will throw a side session upon arriving in Philadelphia, where the Mets begin a three-game series on Friday. ... Collins said Mets OF Yoenis Cespedes, who exited after three innings Friday due to a right quad strain was "pretty sore" on Saturday and probably was not available off the bench. ... Nationals manager Dusty Baker said he hopes RHP Joe Ross (right shoulder) will return shortly after the All-Star Break. ... Nationals RHP Max Scherzer is the third Nationals player to be selected to consecutive All-Star Games since the franchise moved to Washington in 2005. RF Bryce Harper (twice) and RHP Jordan Zimmermann also achieved the feat.