Instant Analysis: Nats 14, Mets 2
Brady House launched his first career grand slam and Cade Cavalli struck out 10 batters again as the Nationals blew out New York
NEW YORK – How would the Nationals respond to a blowout loss in Tuesday’s series opener at Citi Field? Incredibly well.
Behind a second straight dominant pitching performance from Cade Cavalli and an offensive explosion capped by Brady House’s first career grand slam, the Nats routed the Mets in the rain tonight and left the denizens of Flushing once again booing the home team and pleading for management to make changes.
Going up against longtime nemesis David Peterson, the Nationals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before pouring it on in the fourth. They had already knocked Peterson out after three walks and two singles in the inning when Sean Manaea entered from the bullpen and hit Curtis Mead with a pitch with the bases loaded. House followed with a deep drive to left to blow the game wide open and officially give the Nats seven runs off Peterson (seven times as many as they scored in their previous 17 innings against the left-hander).
Cavalli took over from there. Though Juan Soto (who was a triple shy of the cycle) got to him for a third-inning homer, the right-hander dominated the rest of the New York lineup. He completed six innings on 97 pitches, the last 24 of which were strikes. And for the second straight outing, he recorded 10 strikeouts.
With rain steadily falling since the third inning, the Nationals kept piling on late, getting three hits and two RBI from CJ Abrams, four hits (including a homer) and two RBI from Mead and two hits and two RBI from James Wood.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: It had been a rough few weeks for House. Despite an encouraging start to his season, he had regressed into the free-swinging form that defined much of his rookie year. Over his last 17 games, he was slashing .169/.217/.231 with 23 strikeouts and only four walks. One swing won’t entirely get House back on track, but that one swing sure can’t hurt. With the Nationals already leading 5-1 and having knocked Peterson from the game with two outs in the fourth, House stepped up to face Manaea and unloaded on an 0-1 fastball. He didn’t offer up much of a celebration, but his smile as he rounded the bases and returned to the dugout said enough. House’s first career grand slam was much-needed, both by him and the team.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: How would Cavalli follow up his highly encouraging start against the Braves? With an equally encouraging one. Though he needed 30 pitches to escape a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first, he rebounded with a 10-pitch bottom of the second and never looked back. Soto was the only Mets hitter who had any real success against him. The rest of the lineup couldn’t get anything going. With his fastball consistently hitting 97+ mph, Cavalli stayed strong through six innings in the rain, recording his second straight double-digit strikeout game. He still needs to prove he can sustain success for more than a few starts, but he’s certainly trending in the right direction.
NOTABLE: Cavalli is the fifth pitcher in club history with back-to-back, 10-strikeout games. The others: Max Scherzer (20 instances), Stephen Strasburg (six instances), Patrick Corbin and Gio Gonzalez.
UP NEXT: The series wraps up Thursday at 1:10 p.m. The Nats have had Miles Mikolas listed as their starter all week, but it’s entirely possible they go back to PJ Poulin as opener. Right-hander Freddy Peralta starts for the Mets. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
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Curtis Mead is an interesting player. He came out of the Rays system, so there’s at least some shared history with Toboni. He hasn’t played enough to know exactly what he is yet, but a 25 year‑old who can handle third, second, and first and shows a little pop should have a place, at minimum, as a useful bench piece. He’s the same age as Crews, and if Crews had 4 homers in 62 at bats people would be throwing a parade. Maybe it ends up being nothing, but it’s worth seeing how Mead looks over the rest of the year.