The New York Mets were once again able to get former Duke Baseball player Marcus Stroman off the hook as left on the losing end Friday night.
Marcus Stroman is full of energy and that energy has rubbed off on his new New York Mets teammates.
Coming into Friday’s game, the Mets had won 13 of 14 games and six in a row, continuing its home-stand against division rival and NL Wild Card competitor, the Washington Nationals.
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It was Stroman’s turn to toe the rubber in his second start with his new team and his first start in Citi Field as a New York Met.
It was a clean first three innings for Stroman, recording seven of his first nine out via the strikeout, but things got rough in the 4th inning.
Four straight hits from Washington to start the inning with the big blow coming from Juan Soto‘s two-run home run giving the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
The Mets would respond with with runs of its own it the bottom half of the inning, thanks to back-to-back homers by Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis.
Besides the 3rd inning, it was smooth sailing for Stroman until the 7th when he allowed a lead-off walk to Trea Turner and was then removed from the game.
Justin Wilson replaced the former Blue Devil and proceed to give up a two-run blast to Anthony Rendon.
Turner’s run was charged to Stroman as his final line ended with six innings pitched, nine hits, four runs, three walks, and nine strikeouts on 108 pitches.
The 28-year-old still does not have a decision with the Mets, holding his 6-11 record with the Toronto Blue Jays, but his ERA now stands at 3.20.
The Nationals tacked on a run in the 9th inning, but a miraculous comeback in the bottom half of the innings thanks to a game tying three-run home run by Todd Frazier followed by a walk-off single from Michael Conforto gave the Mets a 7-6 win.
New York is now tied for the last National League Wild Card spot with the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals but are only one and a half games behind the Nationals for the top Wild Card Spot.
Marcus Stroman is scheduled to take the mound next on Thursday, August 15 in Atlanta as the Mets take on the NL East leading Braves at 7:20pm EST.