David Peterson tossed six scoreless innings and Brandon Nimmo’s three-run double keyed a five-run fifth inning that lifted the New York Mets to a 7-0 win over the visiting Washington Nationals on Thursday and a sweep of their three-game series.
Peterson (4-0) allowed four hits and walked three, striking out five in a 102-pitch effort. Four relievers took care of the final three innings as New York earned its first shutout of the year and jumped into the National League’s final wild-card spot, percentage points ahead of San Diego.
MacKenzie Gore (6-8) gave up four runs on three hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings, whiffing four. Washington lost for the sixth time in seven games and dropped to 4-12 over its last 16 games.
The game came down to two innings, one where the Nationals missed a golden opportunity and one that New York cashed in to break it open.
Washington taxed Peterson early, leaving men at first and third in the first and then putting them at first and third with no outs in the second after Juan Yepez doubled, followed by a Luis Garcia single.
However, Peterson went into shutdown mode at that point. He struck out the next three hitters, slipping a 3-2 fastball by C.J. Abrams for the third out. The Nationals managed just one more hit off him after the second.
Gore matched Peterson pitch for pitch until it came his turn to work out of trouble. Luis Torrens doubled to start the fifth and was still at second with two outs when Gore walked Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor to fill the bases.
Nimmo came through with a shot to the wall in left-center that cleared the bases, giving him 30 RBIs in his last 24 games. J.D. Martinez and Pete Alonso followed with run-scoring singles to cap the outburst.
The Mets tacked on two runs in the eighth when Mark Vientos and Harrison Bader delivered RBI singles.