Game #55: Nationals 3, Mets 2

Just when you thought it was save to go back into the water of 9th-inning security...

Bobby Parnell blew the save for Jeremy Hefner, as Steve Lombardozzi's walk-off sac fly with the bases loaded sank the Mets 3-2.

The Bad Stuff:

• Bobby Parnell gave up a leadoff double to Ryan Zimmerman in the 9th inning, then after a wild pitch to send him to third, Adam LaRoche tied the game with a single. Then came the double by Ian Desmond, the intentional walk of Roger Bernadina to load the bases, and Lombardozzi's sac fly. Game over, put it in the books for the other team.
• Despite two errors by the butterfingered Washingtonians, New York could only manage two runs and four hits off Jordan Zimmerman, stranding four of the few runners they could get on base and hitting 1-5 with RISP.
• David Wright's slump continued, as his 0-3 night dropped him to .273.
• Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda, John Buck, and Ike Davis each went 0-4.

The Good Stuff:

• The bad luck continues for Jeremy Hefner, who was in line for his second W of the year after yet another quality start: he allowed a solo home run to Ian Desmond but only three other hits in seven frames, walking one and striking out seven on 103 pitches.
• All the New York offense of the day came from Omar Quintanilla, who is tearing it up in the leadoff slot for a team desperate to do just that. Mr. Q went 2-3 with a walk and the go-ahead two-run triple in the 5th. His second hit was a double in the 8th that would have provided some insurance had Murphy and Wright come through.

Final Analysis:
Bobby Parnell had a sub-2.00 ERA coming into tonight's game and had finally established himself as a genuine closer. But of course with the Mets, nothing comes that easy. We knew from Ryan Zimmerman's double to lead off the 9th that we were doomed. The rest was just a formality.

Jeremy Hefner has to be the unluckiest guy with that name on the planet (share some of the love, Hugh). But once you get past that, you see a guy who has strung together six quality starts in his last eight, including three straight. I can see the arguments for bumping him out of the rotation once Zack Wheeler comes up, but Hef has one of the hotter hands in Flushing, Queens, arguably second only to that of Matt Harvey. Let him stay.

MM