Washington right-hander Trevor Williams looks to continue his torrid start when the Nationals host the New York Mets on Tuesday.
New York, meanwhile, goes for its second straight win after averting another ninth-inning bullpen disaster to hold on for an 8-7 victory in Monday’s series opener.
Williams (5-0, 2.22 ERA) has given up two earned runs or less in nine of his 11 starts, though he has only completed six innings one time.
Last time out, he allowed one run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings in a 3-1 win against the Braves last Thursday.
“We were able to execute our game plan for the most part and it was a well-fought win for us,” Williams said. “The guys behind me were able to make some plays. We were able to execute pitches and get out of jams.”
Williams, who spent two seasons with the Mets before coming to Washington, is 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA in eight starts against New York.
Left-hander David Peterson (0-0, 3.60) makes his second start of the season for the Mets. Peterson, making his debut after recovering from offseason hip surgery, gave up three runs — two earned — on seven hits over five innings of a no-decision against the Dodgers last Wednesday.
“Felt good to be back,” said Peterson, whose errant pick-off attempt led to a run.
Peterson is 3-1 with a 3.68 ERA in nine games (six starts) versus the Nationals.
New York led 8-5 entering the ninth inning Monday. The Nationals rallied for two runs off Adam Ottavino and Jake Diekman before the latter struck out Drew Millas with the tying run on third to end it.
The Mets entered the game with 11 blown saves in 24 opportunities, the latest by Diekman on Sunday.
Starling Marte and Jose Iglesias each had three hits and Mark Vientos homered and walked twice for New York.
Iglesias supplied the go-ahead RBI in the fifth inning and added two runs scored and a stolen base. He’s 5-for-11 since joining the Mets from Triple-A Syracuse and started Monday in place of slumping second baseman Jeff McNeil, who sat after completing a 5-for-32 (.156) homestand.
“He’s a guy that won a batting title by hitting line drives from line to line and right now we’re not seeing that consistently,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of McNeil. “There’s been stretches of a couple of games where you go, ‘OK, he’s back,’ and then he goes some games where he is just missing pitches.”
Vientos, Iglesias, Harrison Bader, and Luis Torrens — the six through nine hitters — combined to go 6-for-15 with a home run, six RBIs and two walks.
Joey Gallo homered for Washington, which has lost three of four and on Monday opened a seven-game homestand against New York and Atlanta. In his last nine games, Gallo is hitting .292 (7-for-24) with a double, two home runs, four RBIs, and four runs scored.
Jesse Winker had three hits and drove in three runs.
“We had a couple opportunities,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “Just fell a little short. I thought we hit the ball really well. Lined out a few times. Overall, I thought our at-bats were good today.”
Washington collected 11 hits but went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.
–Field Level Media
