NEW YORK _ The season was filed away in the lost-cause column long ago. But the Mets hadn't looked like a lost cause lately. The pitching had been stingy and the hitting had produced more runs than any team in the National League since the All-Star break.
The starting pitching remained stingy in Sunday's series finale against the Nationals at Citi Field. The Mets' bullpen, though, showed it still needs some reinforcements.
Three relievers allowed a staggering 14 runs in the final two innings to a team that had been blanked in its previous three games. The Mets managed all of three singles, including two in six innings against rookie starter Jefry Rodriguez. So they couldn't finish off the three-game sweep, falling with a thud, 15-0.
They dropped to 6-3 in their last nine games, 14-9 in their last 23 and 58-72 overall.
Steven Matz dropped to 5-11 despite allowing only one run, five hits and one walk in seven innings, with seven strikeouts. His last start against the Nats didn't go too well on July 31 in D.C. The Ward Melville alumnus lasted two-thirds of an inning and was charged with seven runs, eight hits and one walk in what became the worst loss in Mets history, 25-4. He went on the disabled list the next day with a flexor pronator strain in his left arm.
This was his third start since his return, and it was his best of the three and one of his best of the season.
The Nationals (65-66) had gone 32 consecutive innings without scoring heading for the sixth. Trea Turner opened with a shot that hit near the top of the wall in the left. A review confirmed it was a double and not a homer. Anthony Rendon singled Turner to third. Matz got Ryan Zimmerman looking. But Juan Soto grounded out to bring in Turner and end the drought.
Paul Sewald came on to start the eighth. Washington loaded the bases with none out on an infield hit, a walk and bloop single. Zimmerman went down swinging. But the righty Sewald missed inside to the lefty-hitting Soto with a 3-and-1 fastball to force in a run. Mickey Callaway also didn't bring in a lefty to face pinch hitter Bryce Harper. Sewald served up a bases-clearing double to right that made it 5-0.
So Tyler Bashlor trotted in, and the rookie righty served up two-run homers to Wilmer Difo and Adam Eaton, making it an eight-run inning.
Corey Oswalt took his turn getting whacked around in the ninth, yielding an RBI single to Difo, a bases-loaded walk to Spencer Kieboom and a grand slam to Mark Reynolds.
The Mets struggled against Rodriguez (2-1), who was making his sixth major-league start and had never faced them.
They did threaten with two outs in the third. Rookie Jeff McNeil, who would leave the game before the top of the seventh because of tightness in his right quadriceps, blooped a single to left to extend his career-high hitting streak to 11 games. Michael Conforto walked, but Todd Frazier flied to center.
They threatened again with two outs in the sixth. Frazier was at third thanks to a walk, a groundout and a wild pitch. But Austin Jackson bounced to third to end the inning.
The Mets also couldn't get anything done again against four Washington relievers.
