March 17, 2019 – Nationals 10, Mets 5 – West Palm Beach FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/mets-vs-nationals/2019/03/17/565891#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=565891

 

Attendance: 6,345

Game Time: 3:12

Weather: 81 degrees, Partly Cloudy. (Sun was actually out for most of the game, despite the ominous forecast.)

Wind: 7 mph, Out To RF.

 

Section 111, Row U, Seat 2 – just to the right of home plate (although I spent most of the game in section 120 with the Gowen crew)

 

Once again, the Nats got off to a fast start against the Mets, batting around and knocking out starting pitcher Hector Santiago before he could finish the frame. With one out, the carnage proceeded as follows: Suzuki single, Soto homer, Adams single, Jake Noll single, Stevenson bunt single, Difo bases-clearing double, Adrian Sanchez RBI single. Santiago did fan Strasburg, but then hit Robles with a pitch to end his afternoon.

 

While Soto added two doubles later, his first-inning round-tripper made one fan especially happy, as prior to the game he had picked Juan to hit the “Dinger of the Day”. After four quiet innings, the Washington offense added a run in the 6^th on Adams’ RBI double, and 3 more in the 8^th, with journeyman outfielder Tyler Goeddel hitting a 2-run pinch-homer in his first (and perhaps only?) major-league plate appearance of the spring.

 

Strasburg held the visitors hitless through the first three innings, but gave up a 2-run homer to Michael Conforto in the 4^th, and three consecutive singles in the 5^th. He was lifted after Robinson Cano doubled and Conforto walked to start the 6^th. Power-hitting rookie 1B Pete Alonso, whose arrival in New York is eagerly anticipated by Mets fans, hit a 2-run shot off Henderson Alvarez in the top of the 7^th for the final New York tallies.