NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Mets extended a losing streak to four for the first time since 2021 when MacKenzie Gore tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts and led the Washington Nationals to a 4-1 victory on Wednesday night.
Gore (3-1) gave up one run, four hits and two walks in six innings for the Nationals, who clinched their third series win against the Mets since the start of 2021. Washington was 13-25 against New York the last two seasons.
New York has been outscored 21-9 during the skid, their longest since dropping five from Sept. 21-26, 2021.
A 24-year-old southpaw, Gore was acquired in the trade that sent Juan Soto to San Diego last summer. Gore had just one 1-2-3 inning but kept the Mets off-balance by mixing a low-80s curveball with a slider in the high 80s and a mid-90s fastball. He threw a first-pitch strike to 19 of 24 batters.
Hunter Harvey wriggled out of a two-on, one-out jam in the seventh by striking out Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor. He threw a perfect eighth and Kyle Finnegan struck out two in a perfect ninth for his fifth save, finishing a four-hitter.
Lane Thomas and C.J. Abrams hit consecutive RBI singles in the second off Kodai Senga (3-1). Jeimer Candelario homered in the seventh off Jeff Brigham and Alex Call added a run-scoring single in the eighth against Adam Ottavino.
Eduardo Escobar tripled in the third and scored on a single by Marte.
Senga, trying to become the fifth Mets pitcher to win his first four decisions, gave up two runs, five hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out seven and has 32 whiffs this season, tied for the fourth-most through five starts in franchise history.
EARLY STRUGGLES
The Mets went down in order in the first inning and have gone scoreless in the opening frame in their last 16 games.
CLOCK
Senga committed a pitch clock violation prior to delivering a 2-2 pitch to Luis García in the second — but García still swung after plate umpire Mark Carlson called time and hit a ground ball to second. Senga eventually walked García but left the bases loaded when he struck out the next batter, Candelario.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: RHP Justin Verlander (teres major strain) will make a rehab start Friday, though the Mets have yet to announce which affiliate he will pitch for. … RHP Carlos Carrasco (right elbow) has resumed throwing.
UP NEXT
RHP Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.38 ERA) , who starts Thursday for the Nationals went 3-5 with a 3.17 ERA in 40 games as a swingman for the Mets the previous two seasons, making 12 starts. Mets LHP Joey Lucchesi (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitched a career-high seven scoreless innings at San Francisco last Friday in his first big league appearance since Tommy John surgery in June 2021.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
