After sitting for nearly seven innings, Michael Conforto didn’t feel like waiting when he went to the plate like Saturday night.
Mason Thompson, just called up to pitch for the Nationals, lifted a scrub that Conforto crushed above the fence in the center left, causing a rare shake of energy at the Citi field during those insensitive days.
Conforto’s three-run blast allowed the Mets to win a four-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Nationals. The home run was the ninth of the Conforto season and only the second at home since the All-Star break.
“This is the success we were hoping for,” said Conforto, who threw his fist as he rounded the bases. “This is the one we unfortunately haven’t achieved in the last week or so, but I can tell you in those places that we believe in our boys. We believe we will achieve it. It just hasn’t happened in the last few weeks.”
The Mets (62-67) had scored five runs in their previous four games combined, so that screen could also have been a ten-run burst. It came hours after the franchise honored former pitcher Jerry Koosman by retiring at No. 36 during a pre-match ceremony.
With the Mets behind 3-2, Jeff McNeil parted ahead of the seventh against Ryne Harper and Kevin Pillar (who had already scored twice) was punched for a throw. After Patrick Mazeika appeared in a bunt attempt, right-hander Thompson came in to face Conforto, who was absent from starting line-up against left-back Sean Nolin. The pinch touch was the first of Conforto’s career.
“It’s not a secret [left-center] it’s where I go when I feel the best, “Conforto said.” It’s a bit like what I came to do. That one felt a little more special just because it was there inside that basket in front of the wall. working to try to do it all year, but sometimes it takes a little longer. “
Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz protected the lead with a goalless draw. Diaz won his 26th stop on 30 occasions.
The win allowed the Mets to regain the game in the standings they had lost against the Braves the night before. Still, the Mets ’deficit is 7 ½ games east of NL, a product of an August 7-19 in which their lineup has exploded.
The Nationals had taken a 3-2 lead over Trevor May in the seventh, with Riley Adams scoring on a wild pitch after leading the inning with a single. May had not been allowed to run in her previous five appearances.
Pillar’s second home run of the night drew 2-2 in the fifth against Nolin. It was the second multi-homer game of the season for Pillar, who started on the right field to get a more right-handed bat in the lineup against Nolin. Pillar also homered at the head of the third.
“I’ve been working hard on my swing and I feel like I’m swinging with good pitches over the last few weeks,” Pillar said. “I just didn’t get good results and sometimes you have to speed up a bit and try to find the good part of the bat, and today I was rewarded. I became a little smaller and more compact and today I got two home runs ”.
The Mets were active at the bases in their attempt to create careers. Jonathan Villar was nailed trying to steal the second to finish the third inning, and Francisco Lindor passed the second in the next box, but was caught by Pete Alonso and Javier Baez. Lindor also stole second in the sixth and got caught.
Marcus Stroman provided the Mets with a second straight six-inning performance in which he conceded two runs. The right-hander retired on 91 pitches, with seven hits and one walk allowed. Stroman has allowed two runs won or less in four of his last five outings, a stretch in which he has barely increased, from 2.80 to 2.85.
Stroman allowed two runs in the second after Luis Garcia walked to start the inning. Lane Thomas’ RBI double gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead before Alcides Escobar’s single, after Mazeika’s last ball, added another run.
Stroman loaded the bases in the first double of throw after Thomas, but he escaped striking Yadiel Hernandez and retiring Carter Kieboom.
“It was a great overall team victory,” Conforto said. “Hopefully we can make it the start of something special.”