WASHINGTON — At a time the Mets need Zack Wheeler taking the next step in his development, he remains stuck in neutral.
With the exception of one start against the Yankees last week, the right-hander hasn’t been awful this season, but he has hardly been the force in the rotation the Mets envisioned a year ago, when he was nearing his major league debut.
On Sunday, he was just hittable enough to get handed a third “L” in his last four starts, in the Mets’ 6-3 loss to the Nationals.
Wheeler (1-4, 4.53 ERA) went six innings and allowed five runs, two of which were unearned, on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Wheeler’s control was greatly improved from his previous two starts in which he combined to walk 11 batters.
“It’s been a bunch of bad starts in a row here, so I have to hurry up and turn it around and get back on the right track here,” Wheeler said after the Mets’ fourth loss in five games.
“I was thinking after I came out I might be a little predictable right now, throwing fastballs in fastball counts and stuff like that, so maybe start to think a little bit more — I’m not trying to trick guys — but keep them off balance a little more.”
The Mets (20-23) lost two of three against the Nationals and will take Monday off before beginning a nine-game homestand against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Pirates.
Wheeler was only part of the Mets’ problem on Sunday. Ruben Tejada committed a fielding error in the third inning that led to two unearned runs, and the Mets offense fizzled in the late innings after having success against Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann (3-1).
“We’ve been inconsistent,” David Wright said. “We go through a stretch where we play well, go through a stretch where we don’t play so well.
“Granted, it’s impossible to go through the whole season and play your best baseball every day, but there’s got to be some gray area where you squeak out a win when you’re not playing well, and it doesn’t seem we’re doing that.”
The Mets also had two base-running miscues. In the first inning, Daniel Murphy took a wide turn at third base and was thrown out to complete a double play, after Wright was forced out at second on Curtis Granderson’s grounder.
In the sixth, Juan Centeno’s RBI single pulled the Mets within 5-3, but the inning ended with Centeno getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double, with Juan Lagares at third base.
“We can’t make some mistakes that we’re making,” manager Terry Collins said. “We’ve got to play solid baseball.”
The Nationals took control with two runs in the fifth, after Wheeler loaded the bases with nobody out. Wilson Ramos smacked a two-run single — giving him four RBIs for the game — to put the Mets in a 5-1 hole.
Ramos’ two-run double in the third had extended the Nationals’ lead to 3-1. The runs were unearned, after Tejada booted Jayson Werth’s grounder with two outs to extend the inning.
Ian Desmond’s homer leading off the second got the Nationals their first run. It was the fourth homer surrendered by Wheeler this season.
Collins was pleased with Wheeler’s stuff, but said the right-hander probably needs to adjust better to hitters.
“After you get here, the one thing you have to realize is the scouting reports are out on you,” Collins said. “There’s some adjusting you have to make. They all know he’s got a good arm and some teams, like this team, have seen him a couple of times. Now you’ve really got to make big pitches, I think.”