WASHINGTON _ Mickey Callaway's progressive bullpen management has resulted in an unusual accomplishment for closer Jeurys Familia: two saves of more than one inning in the team's first seven games.
The latter of those came Saturday in the Mets' 3-2 win against the Nationals, the Mets' fourth in a row. Familia retired all five batters he faced for his fourth save of the season.
Callaway's bullpen string-pulling this time meant five pitchers in four innings, including three in the eighth: right-hander Jacob Rhame for one batter (Matt Reynolds, out), left-hander Jerry Blevins for one batter (Bryce Harper, walk) and Familia.
The Mets, 6-1 and in first place in the NL East, get a shot at sweeping the Nationals at 8 p.m. Sunday night on ESPN.
All of the Mets' runs Saturday came in the half-innings immediately after the Nationals scored.
After the Nats went up by a run in the bottom of the fifth, the Mets came back in the top of the sixth when Travis d'Arnaud singled home Todd Frazier, who doubled.
After the Nats went up by a run in the bottom of the sixth, the Mets came back in the top of the seventh with two runs. Asdrubal Cabrera doubled into the right-field corner to score Amed Rosario, who hustled home from first. Todd Frazier's grounder to second scored Cabrera. Assisting on the second RBI was Michael Conforto, who took off with the pitch and helped Frazier avoid a potential inning-ending double play.
Left-hander Steven Matz fared better than he did in his season debut, but still struggled with a high pitch count. He allowed a lone unearned run in five innings, the Nationals collecting three hits and two walks. Matz struck out eight.
Center fielder Juan Lagares prevented a run in the second inning when he threw out Brian Goodwin, trying to score from second on Pedro Severino's single, with a zero-hopper to the plate.
