WASHINGTON — The Mets’ visions of a three-game sweep in this house of horrors were fun while they lasted.
Too many times in recent years the Mets have seen disaster strike in the late innings at Nationals Park, turning decent performances into nauseating defeats. Last night’s eighth inning was another chapter to that book.
With Scott Rice and Gonzalez Germen failing to record important outs, the Mets flushed what had been a three-run lead and lost 6-5 to the Nationals in front of 28,995.
Jayson Werth’s RBI double against Germen in the eighth scored the go-ahead run and helped prevent the Mets from securing their first three-game sweep here since August 2008.
“Certainly this is one of those we’re going to look back on and kick ourselves a little bit, for letting it get away,” manager Terry Collins said. “But winning the series is big for us.”
If nothing else, Matt den Dekker’s quest to show the Mets he has a bat to complement his highlight-reel glove took a positive turn, when he became “Middle Dekker.”
The rookie outfielder blasted his first major-league homer, a shot into the mezzanine in right field in the second inning against Ross Ohlendorf, and finished 2-for-3 before leaving as part of a double-switch. He received the silent treatment from teammates after his home run.
“But after a few seconds they came over and congratulated me,” den Dekker said.
The 26-year-old den Dekker made a strong impression on the Mets in spring training and might have made the Opening Day roster if not for a broken wrist he sustained diving for a ball in the outfield near the end of camp.
Den Dekker’s solo blast highlighted a 13-hit offensive attack that included a 2-for-4, two-RBI performance from Lucas Duda in his first game replacing Ike Davis at first base. Davis, who strained his right oblique on Saturday, is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Jon Niese departed with a cramp in his left calf after 5 2/3 innings in which he allowed two earned runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
“I wasn’t concerned,” Niese said. “I knew it was a cramp.”
Scott Atchison allowed a run in the seventh that pulled the Nationals within 5-3 before the night came unhinged for the Mets in the eighth. Rice allowed consecutive singles to Scott Hairston and Denard Span before Bryce Harper’s sacrifice bunt advanced the runners. Anthony Rendon grounded out against Germen to pull the Nationals within 5-4 before Ryan Zimmerman’s infield single with two outs — Omar Quintanilla gloved the ball, but couldn’t get enough on his throw — tied it. Werth then put the Nationals ahead with a double to right.
The Mets will need a quick turnaround — Collins expected a 5 a.m. arrival this morning at the team hotel in Atlanta for a 1:10 p.m. game at Turner Field. Yesterday’s game was played in prime time to accommodate ESPN.
“We can make jokes about it and make light, but we’ve still got to get ready to play,” Collins said. “It’s a big league baseball game and there’s consequences — there’s teams playing for stuff. We’re going to show up and play hard, as we always have.”
Only adding to the fatigue factor, human rain delay Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to pitch for the Mets.
Before Duda gave the Mets a run with an RBI single in the seventh, Daniel Murphy’s second hit of the game, an RBI single in the fifth, extended the Mets’ lead to 4-2. It continued a hot stretch for Murphy, who entered batting .333 over his previous 17 games. Murphy has at least one hit in 16 of his past 18 games.
Hairston’s RBI single in the fourth sliced the Mets’ lead to 3-2. Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos singled in succession leading off the inning before before the former Mets outfielder Hairston — who signed with the Cubs before the season and was subsequently traded — delivered.
Tyler Moore’s RBI single in the second gave the Nationals their first run, after den Dekker had homered in the top of the inning.
The Mets scored twice in the first against Ohlendorf, continuing their momentum from Saturday, when they scored 11 runs. Murphy stroked an RBI double for the first run before Duda smacked a run-scoring single with two outs.