Murphy homers again vs Mets, leads Nationals to 3-2 win

Washington Nationals rookie Trea Turner, getting into his first action since returning to the ballclub this week, touched off an unusual twin-killing in the second inning against the New York Mets on Sunday. Murphy, who helped the Mets win the NL pennant a year ago, greeted reliever Antonio Bastardo with his home run to right-center as the Nationals beat NY for the fifth time in six games and eighth in 12 this season.

Washington Nationals Jayson Werth (28) greets Washington Nationals Daniel Murphy at the plate after scoring on Murphy’s, first-inning, two-run, home run in a baseball game against the New York Mets, Sunday, July 10, 2016, in New York.

Postgame analysis of the Nats’ 3-2 win over the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

“That guy’s the real deal”. And for Murphy, with each bob of the head or smile on his face or shout of excitement, you know he is enjoying each and every moment. “You might have to throw him pingpong balls”.

How it happened: The Nats began their four-game series at the Mets with a disappointing loss, but their weekend couldn’t have ended much better.

As for his own impressive first half that includes 46 extra-base hits and 66 RBIs?

“Really excited about where we’re at right now”, said Murphy, who belted his 16th homer of the season Saturday, two more than his previous career high set with the Mets last season. 423 in those games and has hit safely in all 13.

“We just got our rotation back and Joe went down”. Steven Matz takes the hill, and he’s 7-4 with a 3.34 ERA and 85 strikeouts this season.

However, on Saturday night, when Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy hit yet another home against his former team, I was surprised that the boos did rain down at CitiField.

Before the game, Nationals Manager Dusty Baker said the difference between starts in which Scherzer pitches deep and starts in which he grinds out five or six tolerable innings is as simple as how he starts.

The Nationals tied a franchise record with their 54th win before the All-Star break, matching the 1994 Montreal Expos.

Terry Collins on Reyes: “If he gets it going, he’s a dynamic offensive player”. The homer was the only hit in four at-bats for Murphy, who was 7-for-17 with three homers and 10 RBIs in the series.

Gonzalez was able to settle down later into this game and was replaced by usual starter Tanner Roark with two outs in the sixth. His 368th career save moved him past Jeff Reardon into ninth place on the all-time list. Matz later allowed an RBI single to Wilson Ramos in the third. He took a hard-luck loss in his most recent start Tuesday, when he carried a shutout into the seventh before giving up a two-run homer to Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton in what turned out to be a 5-2 defeat.

In today’s Mets-themed “Fun with Arbitrary End Points” segment: Mets’ pitchers have induced 22 doubled plays in 100 opportunities (20%)…in the last 30 days, the best percentage in the majors over that stretch.

Mets: Noah Syndergaard (arm fatigue) and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (strained right quadriceps) are not going to play in the All-Star Game in San Diego.

Fielding the ball in the path of the runner, Turner charged De Aza to make the tag, while keeping an eye on Matz flying down the line to first. The pitcher stayed in and got Travis d’Arnaud on a liner to left. Gonzalez made it 5 2/3 innings and only allowed two earned runs, the first time since May 18 that he’s given up less than three in a start. “Lined out to third”, he remembered.

By winning three of four games at Citi Field to close the first half of the season, the Nationals erased any ground the Mets made up earlier on the homestand, which had been highlighted by a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers and Padres later visit Washington. And if they can’t salvage a split in Sunday’s series finale, the Mets will find themselves back to square one, six games back of Murphy and the front-runners.