The Nats lost this game in a true pitcher’s duel by a final score of 2-0 as the Nats actually out-hit the Mets 5 to 4, and the difference was that 2 of the Mets 4 hits were solo HRs.
The Nats plan called for small ball, and they had their chances. The Nats best chance in the game was wiped out in the 2nd inning on a 4-6-3 doubleplay ball with men on the corners and 1 out. That was the Nats best chance of the night to try for the hit and run or run and hit or straight steal with Rendon on 1st base as Syndergaard is considered the easiest pitcher to steal on. Ben Revere did attempt a steal later in the game and was called out on a bang bang play.
Curtis Granderson ambushed a fastball he pulled off Max Scherzer on his 1st pitch of the game for a home run and that was all Noah Syndergaard needed in run support. Two innings later Michael Conforto hit out a mistake pitch for the final tally in a 2-0 game.
Syndergaard was as advertised. Absolutely filthy with his repertoire that begins with a 97 to 100 mph heater with a slider and changeup that stayed out of the zone for swing and miss pitches. He made few mistakes and was deadly in 2 strike counts.
It was a cleanly played game and the homeplate ump Mr. Joyce was flawless. The Nats problem was swinging on pitches out of the zone.
In a key Harper AB with Werth on 1st with 2 outs, Ray Knight said that pitch #4 to Bryce Harper was out of the strikezone on the 3-0 pitch and it was not:
