WASHINGTON — Two significant opportunities were there for the taking early Wednesday evening if the Mets could muster a ninth-inning rally against the Nationals.
The Cardinals already had lost their game against the Cubs, and the Giants were behind in the ninth inning against the Padres, and about to lose.
So there stood the Mets with a chance, facing Mark Melancon in the ninth, to not only move ahead of the Cardinals by more than a full game in the race for the second wild card, but also leapfrog the Giants for the first spot.
The Mets never got that rally. Melancon worked a perfect ninth, sending the Mets to a 1-0 loss at Nationals Park that kept the top of the NL wild-card race status quo.
“You can’t get too [frustrated], because you don’t lose any ground,” said manager Terry Collins, whose Mets still lead the Cardinals by a half-game for the second wild card. “We didn’t drop out. We’re still right where we are and we’re going home in the wild-card hunt. Our fans should be excited, it’s the last homestand, they should be excited to come out and see what happens in these 10 games.
“We caught up a lot in the last couple of weeks and got ourselves right where we need to be. Yeah, today is tough when the other two teams lose, but they are saying the same thing.”
The Mets (77-69) finished with six victories in nine games on the road trip and return home to face the Twins, who have the worst record in the major leagues, for three game starting Friday.
On Wednesday, the Nationals inched closer to securing the NL East title, moving 10 games ahead of the Mets. Tanner Roark frustrated the Mets by limiting them to three hits — all singles — over seven innings. The righty survived a minor scare in the first and walked two batters (one intentionally) in the fourth, but was otherwise untested.
Wilson Ramos snapped the scoreless tie in the seventh by launching a solo homer against Fernando Salas, who hadn’t allowed a run in his six appearances since arriving from the Angels on Aug. 31.
Robert Gsellman pitched 5 ²/₃ shutout innings, allowing five hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
“That’s a real good lineup and [Gsellman] did what you’re supposed to do,” catcher Rene Rivera said. “I think we pitched well. They pitched well and somebody had to win.”
With the go-ahead run on second base in the sixth, Collins summoned lefty Josh Smoker, who intentionally walked Daniel Murphy before striking out Bryce Harper.
Murphy had singled in his first at-bat, giving him at least one hit all 19 games against the Mets this season.
It was a second straight superb performance against the Nationals for Gsellman, who had mediocre outings against the Phillies and Braves intertwined. In his previous outing against the Nationals, on Sept. 3 at Citi Field, the righty allowed one run over six innings.
“That’s big, helped my confidence a lot and hopefully take it to the next outing,” Gsellman said, referring to his overall success against the Nationals.
Gsellman was aided by a strong game behind the plate for Rivera, who threw out two runners attempting to steal, upping his season average to 33.3 percent (18-for-54).
In the first inning, Trea Turner was nailed at second as part of a strikeout-throwout double play and Rivera also nailed Harper attempting to steal second in the fourth.
The Mets had an early opportunity against Roark, loading the bases with one out in the first before Jay Bruce struck out on three straight pitches and T.J. Rivera was retired.
“Bottom line with me, you get pitches to hit, you’ve got to hit them,” said Bruce, who is batting .192 since arriving from the Reds at the trade deadline. “You have to put it in play, ideally hard.”