Mets takeaways from Saturday’s 11-6 loss to Nationals, including Carlos Carrasco’s second straight short outing

The Mets went down five runs early on, and despite hitting four home runs, they didn’t have enough, losing to the Washington Nationals on Saturday night, 11-6.

Here are the takeaways…

– CJ Abrams reached first on an error to lead off the game and would advance to second on a groundout. Carlos Carrasco then let up four straight hits, including an RBI single to Joey Meneses and a two-run single to former Met Dom Smith that made it 3-0 Washington. Stone Garrett pushed it to a 4-0 game with a sacrifice fly.

Carrasco allowed a leadoff single in the top of the second to Alex Call, who advanced to second on a balk with one out. The veteran right-hander then let up a two-out double to Jeimer Candelario, making it 5-0 Nationals.

– Mark Canha singled with one away in the bottom of the second, and after Francisco Alvarez flied out and Canha advanced on a wild pitch, Mark Vientos drove in the run with an RBI double down the third base line. That’s all the Mets would get, as they trailed 5-1 after two innings.

– Carrasco’s troubles continued in the third, as he let up another leadoff single and then issued a one-out walk. Riley Adams cleared the bases with a two-run double, making it 7-1 and knocking Carrasco out of the game. The 36-year-old lasted only 2.1 innings (63 pitches), allowing six earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and a walk.

Reed Garrett came in for relief, making his Mets debut. He let up a walk and then Lane Thomas drove in another run on a sharp grounder that got by Francisco Lindor to give the Nats an 8-1 lead. Garrett struck out Candelario and escaped without further damage.

– Tommy Pham crushed a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth that cut the Nat’s lead to 8-2.

Brandon Nimmo was hit by a Patrick Corbin pitch in the fifth with two outs, and then Lindor hit his 20th homer of the season, making it a 8-4 game. He has hit 20 or more home runs in six out of the last seven seasons, with the only exception being the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

– Garrett finished after 2.2 innings of work, allowing just one hit in relief. Dominic Leone tossed a scoreless sixth inning and then Drew Smith threw a 1-2-3 seventh to keep the score intact. Trevor Gott continued the bullpen’s strong night with a scoreless eighth inning.

New York got runners on the corners in the bottom half of the eighth, but Jeff McNeil flied out and Daniel Vogelbach struck out to end the scoring opportunity. Grant Hartwig hit Candelario in the top of the ninth, and scored from first on a Meneses’ single to extend the Washington lead to 9-4. The Nats tacked on two more runs on an infield single and double to the left-center gap, making it an 11-4 game.

– Alvarez became the second 21-year-old catcher to reach 20 home runs in a season, as he launched a leadoff homer in the ninth. Vientos made it back-to-back homers with a solo shot, as the Mets cut the lead to 11-6. Brett Baty doubled to the corner in the left, and advanced to third on Nimmo’s groundout. Lindor struck out and Pete Alonso flied out to end the game.

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets wrap up their series against the Washington Nationals on Sunday at 1:40 p.m. on PIX11.

Justin Verlander (5-5, 3.24 ERA) is scheduled to start for New York, and will face former Met Trevor Williams (5-5, 4.57 ERA) for the Nats.