The New York Mets moved into a tie with the San Diego Padres for the third and final National League wild-card spot with a 7-0 victory on Thursday afternoon against the Washington Nationals (box score). The Padres have Thursday off, meaning that tie will remain in place heading into action on Friday.
Outfielder Brandon Nimmo continued his recent tear at the plate, driving in three runs with a fifth-inning double. Nimmo had homered in each of his previous three games, collecting a total of six runs batted in along the way. J.D. Martinez, Pete Alonso, Mark Vientos and Harrison Bader also contributed runs, with Martinez recording a multi-hit game in the process.
On the mound, the Mets received a quality start from left-hander David Peterson, who entered the day with a 3.58 ERA (109 ERA+) over his first seven outings this year. Peterson held the Nationals to no runs on four hits and three walks over the course of six innings. His seasonal ERA is now down to 3.09.
Recent acquisition Phil Maton, obtained in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, made his Mets debut. He worked a scoreless seventh inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced.
With a new front office boss in David Stearns in addition to possible rental players like Pete Alonso, Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, J.D. Martinez, Harrison Bader and Adam Ottavino -- not to mention players controlled through 2025 like Starling Marte -- the Mets entered the season looking like the biggest seller out there. This remained the case into early June. Then they got hot and temporarily looked like a playoff team. Then they lost five of seven. Now they've won four of five. What gives?
New York is now 47-45 on the season with a series against the Colorado Rockies standing between them and the All-Star break. It's notable that five other NL clubs entered Thursday within five games of the final wild-card spot: the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Cincinnati Reds.
