New York Mets vs Washington Nationals Box Score on Jul 04, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jul 4, 2017

WASHINGTON -- Daniel Murphy went 4-for-5 with five RBIs against his former team and Bryce Harper had three hits and three runs scored as the Washington Nationals cruised to an 11-4 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday.

National League East leading Washington (50-34) is 11 1/2 games ahead of the third-place Mets (38-45), who fell to 3-9 against the Nationals this season.

Washington starter Joe Ross (5-3) gave up just two runs on eight hits in seven innings. The right-hander, who got off to a shaky start Tuesday, has given up just seven earned runs in his last four starts after allowing five runs on June 13 against the Atlanta Braves.

Jose Reyes led off the game with a homer to give the Mets the early lead. The homer came on an 0-2 pitch and was the 25th leadoff homer in the career of Reyes.

But the Nationals took a 2-1 lead in the third on two-out RBI singles by Harper and Murphy.

The Mets tied the game at 2 with a solo homer in the fourth by Rene Rivera.

Washington responded by scoring four runs in the fifth to grab a 6-2 advantage while getting five hits in a row.

Wilmer Difo (two hits, three runs) led off with a single, went to third on a single by Harper and scored on an error as the ball got past Mets right fielder Jay Bruce.

Murphy had a single off the glove of third baseman Wilmer Flores to score Harper. Adam Lind followed with a single and Ryan Raburn added a two-run double to score Murphy and Lind for a 6-2 edge.

Murphy had a two-run single off reliever Josh Edgin in the sixth and Lind drove in a run with a groundout for a 9-2 lead.

Harper drove in a run in the eighth with a single to make it 10-2. Harper has eight RBIs in his last 10 games and is hitting better than .400 during that stretch.

Murphy then had an RBI double off Chase Bradford for an 11-2 lead. Bruce hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Oliver Perez to make it 11-4.

Mets starter Seth Lugo (3-2) gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in five innings. Brandon Nimmo was 3-for-4 and T.J. Rivera was 2-for-4 for the Mets before he left the game after limping to first on a groundout in the seventh.

NOTES: Mets OF Yoenis Cespedes was not in the starting lineup after he sustained a cramp while trying to make a catch in the ninth inning Monday ... Mets OF Curtis Granderson (hip) was a late scratch from the starting lineup and then was retired as a pinch-hitter in the sixth ... Washington RHP Tanner Roark (6-6, 5.27 ERA) will face Mets RHP Jacob deGrom (8-3, 3.55) in the series finale Wednesday ... Washington 1B Ryan Zimmerman did not play as he got the day off after a night game ... Washington 2B Daniel Murphy spent the first seven years of his career with the Mets and helped New York to the 2015 World Series.