NEW YORK — The Mets came home trying to avoid more of the same. And it was Jacob deGrom who helped start them on a better path.
After catching the red eye back to the Big Apple from Chicago, the Mets kicked off their first series against the Nationals this season still struggling to score runs. The Mets won their first of three games against the Nats, 6-0, Friday at Citi Field and deGrom pitched his fourth complete game of his career, striking out 15 batters, and his second shutout.
Mets bats were basically useless against the Nationals’ Erick Fedde over four innings. It wasn’t until the Mets ace broke it open in the fifth with a double off Fedde, which scored J.D. Davis, who reached on a hit by pitch, that the Mets found some kind of flow.
Two more runs came across for the Mets courtesy of Brandon Nimmo in the fifth, who was back in the lineup after missing two games with a stiff hip. Nimmo, in the fifth, got deGrom and Jeff McNeil (reached on a walk) home on a single to right field. As if Nimmo had all this pent up power and energy waiting to explode, his bat never silenced again all game.
Dominic Smith helped the Mets increase their lead by one more in the seventh. After Nimmo reached on a double that came just short of clearing the center field wall, Smith’s single to left field drove Nimmo in.
That big hit previewed what was to come an inning later, when Nimmo homered close to the Coca Cola corner, a shot that also scored deGrom.
