The fourth inning concluded Tuesday with a standing ovation from much of the small crowd at Citi Field, perhaps wondering if what it just witnessed was real.
But this wasn’t a mirage. The Mets sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and scored seven runs. Frustration turned to smiles. The Mets had it all together for a night.
The big inning propelled the Mets to snap a three-game skid with an 8-0 victory over the Nationals before an announced crowd of 33,622 that was much smaller.
In getting swept three games by the Rockies over the weekend, the Mets scored only four combined runs to continue their season-long offensive woes.
Clay Holmes concluded his dominant April by pitching six shutout innings in which he allowed three hits and one walk with six strikeouts. The right-hander’s ERA dipped to 1.75 before Tobias Myers and Craig Kimbrel finished it.
Now the Mets need momentum. They began this homestand with a series victory over the Twins, and anything less against the underwhelming Nationals will only increase the volume on calls for manager Carlos Mendoza’s firing.
The offensive fireworks included Juan Soto’s first homer since returning from the injured list a week ago. Soto’s two-run blast punctuated the wild outburst in the fourth against Zack Littell.
Bo Bichette homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the first to get the runaway started. The blast was Bichette’s second this season.
Jorbit Vivas’ error was the big play in the fourth that launched the Mets’ seven-run explosion. With the bases loaded, Vivas misplayed Marcus Semien’s grounder, allowing two runs to score. Carson Benge’s ensuing two-run single gave the Mets a 5-0 lead.
Ronny Mauricio singled to continue the rally before Bichette hit a sacrifice fly. Soto cleared the fence in left-center for his second homer this season, a two-run blast that widened the gap to 8-0.
MJ Melendez’s single started the big inning and walks to Mark Vientos and Brett Baty loaded the bases ahead of Vivas’ error.