Apr 30, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) celebrates with Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy (20) and Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper (34) after hitting a three-run home run against the New York Mets in the fourth inning at Nationals Park. Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
WASHINGTON — Anthony Rendon went 6-for-6 with three home runs and drove in a career-high 10 runs and Matt Wieters had three hits, including two homers and four RBIs, as the first-place Washington Nationals crushed the New York Mets 23-5 on Sunday.
It was the first multi-homer game in the career of Rendon, who entered the day with five RBIs. He set a career high with six hits and lifted his average from .226 to .278. Washington hit a team-record seven homers.
Rendon had a two-run single in the first inning, a solo homer in the third, a three-run homer in the fourth, a three-run double in the fifth and a solo homer in the eighth off Kevin Plawecki, normally a catcher. The MLB record for RBIs in a game is 12, set by Jim Bottomley and Mark Whiten.
The Nationals have now scored at least 10 runs in four of their last six games. They are the first team in MLB history to score at least 14 runs five times in April, according to STATS, Inc. Ryan Zimmerman also had three hits for Washington, which set a franchise record (including Montreal) for runs in a game.
Mets ace starter Noah Syndergaard left his start in the second inning while pitching to Bryce Harper. Syndergaard immediately held up his right elbow after throwing a 2-2 pitch to Harper. He headed to New York for an MRI, according to a team spokesman, after suffering a possible right lat strain.
Syndergaard (1-2) gave up five hits and five earned runs in 1 1/3 innings, with two walks, a wild pitch and two strikeouts. He was replaced by Sean Gilmartin in a game that the Mets trailed 5-2 at the time.
But Harper hit a homer in the eighth off Plawecki to make it 20-5 and Adam Lind hit a two-run homer to build the lead to 22-5. Rendon then went deep for the third time for the final run.
Daniel Murphy had an RBI double in the seventh to build the margin to 15-5, Michael A. Taylor drove in a run when he reached on an error and Wieters cranked a three-run homer to make it 19-5.
Wieters hit a solo homer in the sixth as the Nationals took a 14-5 lead.
Rendon made it 13-5 with a bases loaded double in the fifth. Rendon also hit a three-run homer off Gilmartin in the fourth to give Washington a 10-5 bulge.
Zimmerman had a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give the Nationals a 7-5 lead.
Gilmartin had an RBI double to left to cut the Washington lead to 6-4 in the fourth. It was his first career RBI. He later scored on a single by Michael Conforto to make it 6-5.
Rendon hit his first homer, a solo shot off Gilmartin, to give his team a 6-3 lead in the third.
New York’s Jay Bruce hit a solo shot in the third to make the score 5-3. Rene Rivera, who had two hits, hit a solo shot in the top of the second to trim the Washington lead to 5-2.
The Nationals scored five runs in the first to take a 5-1 lead. Zimmerman had an RBI single, Rendon had a two-run single, Taylor had an RBI single and starting pitcher Joe Ross singled to drive in Taylor.
The Mets grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first as Jose Reyes tripled and scored on a single by Bruce, who had three hits.
The winning pitcher was Matt Albers (1-0), who threw two scoreless innings.
Plawecki came on to pitch in the seventh and the first batter he faced was Rafael Bautista, who flied out to center in his first MLB at-bat.
NOTES: Washington CF Adam Eaton has an ACL tear in his left leg and will likely miss the rest of the season, general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters Sunday. “His return to this season is unlikely, but we don’t know until the doctors get in there and we’ll see what the surgery leads us to believe,” Rizzo said. “It’s a big piece of our team that’s been taken from us, but we can’t dwell on that.” … Mets RHP Robert Gsellman (0-2, 6.23 ERA) will face Atlanta RHP Julio Teheran (2-1, 3.38) on Monday in Georgia. … Washington RHP Tanner Roark (3-0, 3.64) will pitch at home Tuesday against Arizona RHP Taijuan Walker (3-1, 3.94).
