Garrett Mock and the Nats’ bullpen couldn’t find the strike zone in New York and Jeff Francouer took full advantage, launching two home runs and leading the New York Mets to an 8-2 victory at Citi Field. The Nats have now lost three of four to start the season, and are firmly rooted in last place in the NL East. The disappointment in the otherwise confident Nats’ locker room was palpable. Nats’ skipper Jim Riggleman, who has watched the team’s starters struggle to make it past the fifth, worried about the impact on the Nats’ bullpen — who are being called on more frequently as a result of the failure of the Nats’ front five. “That can’t continue. That’s not going to work,” he said, following Mock’s performance. “To this point, it’s not an excuse to bring a domino effect on our bullpen. We’ve already had an off day. We are carrying eight relievers. With eight relievers, nobody has been overtaxed or anything. … But if your starters [continue to] go three to five innings, it will cause problems that you can’t solve. The starters obviously have to pitch deeper in the game.”

Nats’ starter Garrett Mock, who blamed the cold and windy conditions for his inability to throw strikes, couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning. The hurlers that followed (Miguel Batista, Jason Bergmann and Jesse English — all with ERAs above 10.00), weren’t much better. The Mets, on the other hand, received timely hitting from Francoeur, who put two Nats’ pitches into the Citi Field bleachers, and journeyman catcher Rod Barajas, who matched his total. “It was really windy. The wind was in my face. The ball had a ton of movement on it,” Mock explained after the game. “Everything I said, everything I believed in and worked on all spring has been attack the strike zone and throw it over the plate. On the other hand, I’m not going to say, the ball is going all over the place and just baby one in there for the sake of throwing strikes. I’m not going to say it’s the baseball’s fault, but I really couldn’t get a grip [on it]. I did everything I could — trying to keep my hands moist, licking my fingers. I was just uncomfortable.”

The news for the Mets is all good: Jason Bay adds power to the middle of the Mets line-up and spark plug shortstop Jose Reyes is set to make his season debut on Saturday. John Lannan will start for the Nats, after suffering through an indifferent start against the Phillies on Opening Day. No one is underestimating the Mets, least of all Lannan: “The Mets have another power bat in the middle with Jason Bay,” Lannan said on Friday. “Rod Barajas adds depth as well. The Mets have power. The balance is more even — more up front and power in the middle. It’s a tough lineup.” Standing now at 1-3, with another match-up against the Mets in New York this afternoon, the Nationals will face Oliver Perez. Facing their fourth loss in five games, the Nats need to (ah) “get a grip on it.”

In The Blogosphere: Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider details the woes of the Nats rotation and bullpen, focusing first on Mock: “In the span of three weeks,” Zuckerman writes, “he’s gone from the best-looking starter in camp not named Strasburg to a starter who may be pitching to keep his job next time out” . . . Mike Harris, over at Nationals Fan Boy Looser reflects the same frustration, noting that he’s “willing to bet there are 4-5 guys in Syracuse right now who would be less painful to watch.” There’s a bet we won’t take . . . Nats320 weighs in with an interesting reflection on Mets 20-year-old phenom Jennry Mejia who mowed “right through all three Washington batters he faced to close out this game in the 9th. Mejia pitched with the determination that comes from knowing you can succeed” . . . Half Street Blues, meanwhile, provides a cheeky but blunt look at Ted and Mark Lerner’s business acumen, and observes that “not paying for pitching really helps the bottom line.” Of particular interest is HSB’s calculation of the Lerner family’s profits from the Nats, over $100 million in three years . . .

The Nats need a semi-miracle to pull out a 6-5 victory against the Mets on Friday, but they got one, as a hard bouncing grounder that might have led to a walk-off Mets’ win resulted in the final out in a Nationals’ victory. Closer Mike “Heart Attack” MacDougal knocked down the sharp bounder off the bat of Mets’ hitter Jeff Francoeur and lobbed it to first to give the Nats a much-needed win. With the Nats in the lead and coasting to a victory, MacDougal started the 9th inning with an out, but then pitched himself into trouble: he walked two batters, then gave up a clean single to David Wright and a fielder’s choice smash to Carlos Beltran. Daniel Murphy then hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Ian Desmond — who threw the ball away. Francoeur’s hot grounder up the middle took off MacDougal’s glove and might have ended up in centerfield (and ended the game), but MacDougal speared the ball and threw Francouer out.

 

After playing a flat — and losing — series in Philadelphia, the Nats came alive against the Mets. Ryan Zimmerman hit his 30th home run of the season (the most of his major league career), Josh Willingham hit his 23rd (and ended his three week slump at the plate by going 2-4) and Josh Bard added three RBIs. Bard was the hero of the game: the hobbled catcher was one for three with three RBIs, which included his fifth home run of the season. “I finally got an advantage count for myself. I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Bard said. “I just told myself, ‘Just make sure that you are really aggressive.’ I was able to get a good pitch.” Bard was also key in dampening a Mets rally in the sixth. With the bases loaded Bard, in a close play at the plate, tagged out Carlos Beltran on a short-bounce throw from Josh Willingham in left field. It was the play of the game. J.D. Martin pitched well enough to take the win (giving up two earned runs in 5.1 innings), while Mets fireballer Mike Pelfrey (now 10-11) took the loss.