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Mets pound 13 hits en route to convincing 10-3 win over Nationals

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Mets pound 13 hits en route to convincing 10-3 win over Nationals

The Mets had another offensive onslaught on Thursday night, this time against the Washington Nationals in a 10-3 win.

Here are the takeaways…

–Kodai Senga, looking for a better outing than his last one on March 14 when he allowed seven hits, including a home run, in 3.1 innings with just one strikeout, made his third start of the spring and delivered a spectacular performance. In 3.2 innings, the right-hander’s swing-and-miss stuff was back, consistently getting hitters to chase and generating a ton of whiffs on his way to six strikeouts on 49 pitches (29 strikes).

The 32-year-old didn’t allow a hit on the night, but he walked two, including CJ Abrams to lead off the bottom of the first who then scored from second base on a dropped third strike by Luis Torrens, who made an errant throw to first base, allowing the runner to advance to second. After another walk, Senga didn’t allow the inning to get away from him, as he induced an inning-ending double play niftily turned by Francisco Lindor and Brett Baty.

From there, Senga retired the next batters eight he faced before getting pulled in the fourth inning.

-On offense, New York got to work immediately after going down 1-0, scoring three in the second, two in the third, and five in the fourth. Luisangel Acuña, batting ninth and playing third base, got the party started with a two-run single the opposite way to give the Mets the lead — one they would never relinquish.

Acuña finished 2-for-5, but had a bit of a weird play in the field where he took a bad route on a popup on the third base line before appearing to give up on the ball and giving way to left fielder Jose Azocar, who couldn’t get to it either which allowed a run to score.

–Other notable contributors at the plate were Luis Torrens, who went 3-for-3 with a triple, three RBI, and three runs scored (he should buy a lottery ticket tonight). Jose Siri finished 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI, and a run scored, and Baty produced his fifth double of the spring along with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored.

–Noticably absent from the hit parade was Lindor, who finished 0-for-5 with an RBI. The shortstop, who historically gets off to slow starts, has not had a great spring and is batting .163 (8-for-49) with a .459 OPS out of the leadoff spot. After his MVP-caliber season in 2024, in which he got off to possibly the worst start of his career, Lindor has earned the right for fans to be patient with him. But a good start to the season would certainly benefit New York’s offense.

–Jesse Winker was back in the lineup for the first time since exiting Monday’s game with cramps in his calf. Batting cleanup as the designated hitter, he went 0-for-2 with a walk and run scored before getting pinch-hit for in the sixth.

–Max Kranick, the reliever from out of nowhere who has been lights out this spring training, was at it again on Thursday. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder pitched two scoreless innings while striking out two more batters to get his total up to 14 in 11.1 innings. The 27-year-old right-hander, who last pitched in the majors in 2022 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, has done everything he can to get a spot on the Opening Day roster.

–Tyler Zuber, another reliever fighting for a roster spot who’s shown promise during camp, pitched the final two innings and allowed a run on two hits and a walk while striking out two. It was the first run allowed by Zuber this spring, and he still owns a 1.17 ERA in 7.2 innings.

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets will complete their spring training slate with a four-game homestand that begins on Friday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals (1:10 p.m start).



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