(SportsNetwork.com) – After dealing the Mets their second home loss of the
season, the Washington Nationals try to win a four-game series against New
York Sunday afternoon.
Washington’s Doug Fister will try to build on his success pitching in day
games. In 2014, the righty went 5-1 with a 1.90 ERA in day games and held
opponents to a .192 batting average.
Fister is coming off a loss at Atlanta Monday when he gave up 10 hits and five
runs — four earned — in 5 2/3 innings. He’s 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in four
starts against the Mets.
On the other side, Dillon Gee has been successful when facing the Nationals,
as evidenced by his 8-4 mark and 3.69 ERA in 16 starts against them. The
righty lost his first start of the season at Atlanta, but has not had a
decision in his previous three appearances. On Monday at Miami, Gee allowed
six hits and a run over 7 2/3 innings.
Gio Gonzalez tossed seven scoreless innings as the silenced the Mets by a 1-0
score Saturday night. Gonzalez (2-2) gave up six hits and two walks, while
fanning nine batters to improve to 8-4 in 14 career starts against the Mets.
Michael Taylor drove in a run, while Wilson Ramos, Ian Desmond and Danny
Espinosa each supplied two hits for the Nationals, who have won four of their
last five games.
“We certainly would have liked to score more than one to help them out,”
Nationals manager Matt Williams said of his pitchers. “They can keep another
team down and give us opportunities.”
Juan Lagares had two hits and Lucas Duda doubled for the Mets, who had
Jonathon Niese (2-2) allow just one run on nine hits with five strikeouts over
his seven-inning outing.
“It’s probably the best I’ve felt all year. There were a lot of ground ball
base hits, tough-luck stuff,” Niese said.
The Mets failed to get much going offensively. They mustered just one extra-
base hit, finished with just two runners in scoring position and left six men
on base.
The Nationals lost two of three meetings with New York from April 6-9 in DC,
but are 13-5 in the previous 18 games in this series. In 2014, the Nationals
broke Atlanta’s previous record of 10 straight road wins against the Mets,
which was between the 1991 and 1992 seasons, by winning 12 in a row at Citi
Field. Washington has won 30 of its last 36 games at Citi Field, dating to
Sept. 12, 2011.
