Grudge-match baseball, anyone?
In the six weeks since the season began, every possible NL East matchup has occurred except one. That will change Tuesday night, when the Nationals and Mets finally convene.
For most of the Mets, it will be something of a novelty: a big early-season series, the likes of which hasn’t come to Citi Field. After all, the last time the Mets participated in a series that involved the previous two NL East champions was 2007.
Only adding to the hoopla, Daniel Murphy will make his return to Flushing after a historic postseason for the Mets in which he homered in six straight games and nearly willed his team to a World Series title.
But that was then. Murphy signed a three-year deal worth $37.5 million with the Nationals last winter after the Mets showed no willingness to move beyond a one-year qualifying offer. Neil Walker replaced Murphy at second base and life has gone on for the Mets.
The .400 batting average Murphy will take into Tuesday night certainly can’t be ignored, but now he is the enemy.
“We’re going out there to try and win the ballgame, not to reunite with a friend,” Lucas Duda said. “It’s about business. It’s about winning a game, so you set that aside. [Murphy] seems to be doing well. This is a tough series. I’m going to be looking forward to it.”
Murphy will receive his NL championship ring from Mets brass in a private presentation before the game. And the club will salute him with a video tribute prior to the game as well. Then it becomes about baseball, and the Mets trying to erase a 1 ½-game deficit on the first-place Nationals.
“We’re close in the standings, and there is a bit of a rivalry there, so I think we’re going to be refreshed, ready to go,” Michael Conforto said after the Mets lost a fourth straight game to complete a 4-7 road trip Sunday.
“Absolutely we’re going to be excited to go out there and toe it up against one of the best teams in baseball. I think we’re one of the best teams in baseball as well, so a great matchup.”
In a must-see pitching showdown, it’s Max Scherzer against Noah Syndergaard for Round 1. Scherzer tied a major league record for a nine-inning game with 20 strikeouts against the Tigers in his last start. Syndergaard has been among the most electric pitchers in the game this season, with his assortment of 100-mph fastballs and 95-mph sliders.
The last time the Mets saw Scherzer, he threw a no-hitter at Citi Field on the final day of the 2015 regular season.
“It’s like facing [Clayton] Kershaw, [Madison] Bumgarner and many of the elite pitchers in the big leagues,” Yoenis Cespedes said.
Walker, who played for a Pirates team that was also no-hit by Scherzer last year, said the Mets just have to wait for the righty to make a mistake.
“You know he’s going to attack you,” Walker said. “He’s not going to back down from anybody.”
Conforto knows all about Scherzer’s résumé, but said the Mets won’t be intimidated.
“I think we’ll be just fine,” he said. “We’ve got a great staff as well, so we know we’ll be in the game, have opportunities to take it home.”
And if they don’t? There are three more games between the Mets and Nationals next week in Washington.
“Do they become bigger as the summer goes on? Yes,” manager Terry Collins said. “They are still a team we’ve got to play well against and we’ve got to beat them, so is it the biggest series of the year? That is yet to be determined.”
