September 9th 2015 -- Mets 5, Nationals 3

Wednesday night, it happened again. Trailing 2-1 in the top of the 8^th inning, the Mets got a pinch hit homer by Kelly Johnson to tie it, and then a 2 run homer by  Yoenis Cespedes to put the Mets ahead, the Mets come from behind again and sweep the Nationals in D.C. with a 5-3 win. The game started as a pitcher’s duel between Jacob deGrom and Stephen Strasburg. Both Strasburg and deGrom where on their games in this one. In the bottom of the 1^st the Nats took a 1-0 lead when Bryce Harper got his first hit of the series and first homer against the Mets this year, his 35^th on the season.  The Mets tied the game in the top of the 2^nd when Travis d’Arnaud crashed a solo homer, his 11^th on the year and it was 1-1.  The Nats took the lead  back in the bottom of the 4^th when Harper doubled and advanced to third on a ground out by Antony Rendon. Clint Robinson then singled through a drawn in infield to bring home Harper and give the Nats the lead.  In the 8^th inning, Terry Collins pressed the right button again, pinch hitting Kelly Johnson for Wilmer Flores, who had gone 0-2 against Strasburg and Johnson clubbed a long home run into the 2^nd deck in right to tie the game at 2, for Johnson his 5^th as a Met and 14^th on the year. Curtis Granderson then singled. Strasburg was relieved by Drew Storen and then Cespedes clubbed a 2 run homer, his 14^th as a Met and 32^nd on the year to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. deGrom went 7 innings allowing just 5 hits 2 runs (both earned) walking 2 and striking out 9 in notching the win, he’s now 13-7. Tyler Clippard pitched the 8^th and yielded Harper’s 2^nd solo shot of the night, his 36^th on the year.  In the bottom of the 8^th, Lucas Duda doubled, was pinch run for by Eric Young Jr. He advanced to 3^rd on a grounder by d’Arnaud and scored on a RBI single by Michael Conforto making it 5-3.  Jeurys Familia pitched the 9^th for his 39^th save. Strasburg was the hard luck loser going 7 1/3 innings allowing just 4 hits,  3 runs (earned) walking 1 and striking out 13. He falls to 8-7.  Cespedes is in rarified air, with 6 homers in his past 7 games. He has 14 homers and 36 RBI in 36 games since the trade.  d’Arnaud went 2 for 4 with the homer as the Mets now have built a 7 game lead over the Nationals. With the win the Mets stand at 78-61 on the year, a season high 17 games over .500, they improve to 33-37 on the road. Thursday night the Mets travel south to Atlanta for a four game set.  Thursday night the reigning NL Player of the week Bartolo Colon (13-11 4.18) goes for the Mets, Shelby Miller (5-13 2.81) goes for Atlanta.