Mad Max was no match for Thor in the battle to control Citi Field.
Noah Syndergaard brought his triple-digit heat — hitting 100 mph on the radar gun 13 times — to dominate the Nationals and out-gun Max Scherzer in a classic pitcher’s duel Tuesday night.
Spoiled was Daniel Murphy’s hopes of a triumphant return to the Citi in the Mets’ 2-0 victory that snapped their four-game losing streak.
Syndergaard, in his best performance of the season, fired seven shutout innings in which he allowed five hits, struck out 10 and didn’t walk a batter. In the first inning alone, Syndergaard hit 100 mph with seven pitches.
“He’s special, man,” catcher Kevin Plawecki said. “No stage is too big for him. No moment is too big for him.”
Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto each homered to account for the Mets’ runs against Scherzer, in his first appearance since tying a major league record last week for a nine-inning game with 20 strikeouts against the Tigers.
Scherzer’s final line over 6 ¹/₃ innings included 10 strikeouts and three walks with three hits allowed. It marked the first game this season both starting pitchers struck out at least 10 batters.
“[Scherzer] threw an unbelievable ballgame,” Syndergaard said. “Honestly, I couldn’t see anything he was throwing out there.”
With David Wright and Lucas Duda sidelined because of back soreness, the Mets employed a lineup that included Eric Campbell and rookie Matt Reynolds, making his major league debut. It meant four hits — for the entire lineup — would have to suffice.
The Mets, who moved within a half-game of the first-place Nationals in the NL East, certainly welcomed the victory, following a hideous 4-7 road trip through San Diego, Los Angeles and Colorado.
“You’ve got to be resilient,” manager Terry Collins said. “It always helps when you’ve got a horse you can ride on that mound.”
The Nationals had their last legitimate crack at Syndergaard in the sixth, when Ben Revere was thrown out by Plawecki attempting to steal second, helping the Mets escape an inning in which Syndergaard allowed two singles. After Syndergaard fell behind 3-0 to Bryce Harper, he got two strikes before the reigning National League MVP swung and missed a slider to end the inning. Harper struck out twice in his three at-bats against Syndergaard.
“[Syndergaard] just made real good pitches on Bryce,” Collins said. “You better pitch him carefully and you better pitch him precisely and Noah did that tonight. That is why we had success.”
Syndergaard said pitching around Harper wasn’t an option.
“He’s an unbelievable ballplayer, a great athlete, very talented,” Syndergaard said. “You can see why a lot of people have been walking him, but I go out there and pitch to my strengths and I just went right after him.”
Murphy, who finished 1-for-3, received a loud ovation upon coming to the plate for the first time, in the second inning. A half-inning earlier, he made a diving stop to throw out Campbell for the final out, robbing the Mets of a run.
Syndergaard escaped a minor threat in the second, when he got Wilson Ramos to hit into an inning-ending double play after Ryan Zimmerman had doubled and Anthony Rendon singled him to third.
Conforto’s solo homer with two outs in the third gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. The homer was the 13th allowed by Scherzer this season.
“We knew hits were going to be tough to come by,” Conforto said. “We knew we were going to have to grind out at-bats.”
Granderson hit Scherzer’s first pitch of the game over the right-field fence to get the Mets started. It was the 38th career homer for Granderson leading off a game. Twice this season he has homered on the first pitch of the game.
“You’ve got a guy like a Scherzer, you saw how he settled in, it’s a great thing to be up for at least a split-second,” Granderson said.
