Nationals whip Mets, open 10-game division lead
WASHINGTON -- Hot-hitting Anthony Rendon belted a three-run homer and Daniel Murphy had three hits against his former team as the Washington Nationals blitzed the New York Mets 8-1 on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series between the top teams in the National League East.
The first-place Nationals (86-58) now lead the second-place Mets (76-68) by 10 games in the division.
Washington has won eight of its last 11 and is a season-high 28 games above .500. New York is 16-6 in the last 22 games and still in the wild-card hunt. The Nationals are 11-6 against the Mets this season.
Rendon, who went deep during a four-run second inning, is hitting nearly .320 in his last 45 games. He has 18 homers this season and is bidding to become the sixth Washington player with at least 20 this year.
Washington's Bryce Harper walked three times and scored twice. Murphy, now batting .347, had two doubles to give him 44 this year, the most in the league. Trea Turner also had two hits for Washington.
The losing pitcher was Mets starter Rafael Montero (0-1), who did not get out of the second inning and now has a 8.10 ERA in five appearances this year. New York pitchers committed six walks.
The winner was Nationals rookie Reynaldo Lopez (2-4), who pitched three scoreless innings while giving up no hits and two walks. It was the first bullpen outing for Lopez after six starts.
Jose Reyes and Travis d'Arnaud had two hits for the Mets, who won the National League East title last year and Washington captured the championship in 2014.
Montero made his third start of the season and Mat Latos made his first for Washington, but neither pitcher was around after the fifth as the Nationals built a 8-1 lead.
New York took a 1-0 lead in the first as Reyes led off with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Yoenis Cespedes.
But the Nationals grabbed a 2-1 lead in the last of the first as Montero walked Harper and Ramos with the bases loaded to force in runs.
A single to left by Murphy in the first to load the bases gave him a hit in all 17 games against the Mets this year.
Latos led off the bottom of the second with a solo homer to left to make it 3-1. It was the fourth of his career and the first by a Washington pitcher this year.
Later in the inning, Harper was walked intentionally to put runners on first and second with two outs. Rendon followed with a majestic three-run homer to left to give the Nationals a 6-1 lead and send Montero to the showers in favor of Gabriel Ynoa.
The Mets' bullpen got busy less than 20 minutes after the start of the game as Montero was loading the bases in the first.
Montero went just 1 2/3 innings and gave up five hits, four walks and six runs while throwing 60 pitches -- only 30 for strikes.
Ramos and Ryan Zimmerman had RBI singles in the fourth to make it 8-1. Ramos entered the game hitting .179 in his last 15 games and Zimmerman batted.135 in his previous 15 outings.
Latos was looked at by athletic trainer Paul Lessard after pitching to Reyes with one out in the fifth. He was taken out after giving up three hits and one run. He limped to the dugout, where he threw his glove in anger.
The right-hander was 6-2 with the Chicago White Sox before he was signed by the Nationals as a minor league free agent on June 30.
NOTES: Washington RHP A.J. Cole (1-2, 4.56 ERA) will start Tuesday against Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard (13-8, 2.48) in the second game of the series. ... Washington INF Daniel Murphy played for seven seasons for the New York Mets and hit seven postseason home runs in 2015 for New York. ... Mets INF Asdrubal Cabrera hit .229 in 49 games for the Nationals in 2014. ... Mets LHP Jerry Blevins pitched in 64 games for the Nationals in 2014 and was traded to the Mets at the end of spring training in 2015. ... Washington RHP Mat Latos, the Monday starter, won 14 games in both 2012 and 2013 while pitching for manager Dusty Baker in Cincinnati. Baker is the first-year skipper of the Nationals. ... Mets RHP Rafael Montero made eight starts for the Mets in 2014 and one in 2015. He made his 12th MLB start on Monday in his 20th career outing.