Washington, DC – Wilson Ramos had a grand slam and five RBI and the Washington Nationals recorded 18 hits en route to a 14-1 rout against the New York Mets in the finale of a four-game series at Nationals Park.
Denard Span had a two-run home run and three RBI while Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond drove in two runs apiece for the Nationals, who took three straight games from the Mets after being shut out in the series opener.
"This is definitely what we envisioned coming out of Spring Training," said Span. "Being able to score runs like this and just put a lot of pressure on other teams' starting pitching and getting deep into the other team's bullpen."
Taylor Jordan (1-3) gave up one run on five hits while fanning seven and walking one over six innings to pick up his first major league win.
Marlon Byrd went 2-for-3 and drove in the lone run for the Mets. Starter Carlos Torres (1-2) lasted just three innings, surrendering eight runs on nine hits and a walk.
"It was just one of those games where all those balls are dropping in, all these balls are going by people. It definitely gets frustrating," Torres said. "But as a pitcher, you got to hit your spots, pound your zones and you can't worry about those things because you can't control those."
In the second, Torres put runners on the corners after allowing a one-out double to Desmond and a single to Span. Ramos' base hit to right center plated Desmond.
Jordan advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt and Harper delivered a two- RBI single to left.
The Nationals blasted Torres for five runs in the third. Ryan Zimmerman hit a leadoff double and Jayson Werth walked with one out. Desmond delivered an RBI single to right and Ramos capped the inning with a grand slam two batters later.
The Mets got on the board in the fourth. Eric Young singled to begin the frame and scored on a two-out single to center by Byrd.
However, Washington scored two runs in the home half. Back-to-back singles by Anthony Rendon and Zimmerman started the inning. After Adam LaRoche grounded into a double play, Werth scored Rendon with a single to left.
Following a walk to Desmond, Span scored Werth with a single up the middle. However, on the same play, Desmond was thrown out trying to reach third.
The Nationals weren't done scoring, as they added three more runs in the sixth. Werth knocked a two-out single to right. He got to second on a wild pitch by David Aardsma and third on a passed ball before scoring on a single by Desmond. Span followed with a two-run shot to give the team a 13-1 advantage.
In the eighth, leadoff man Steve Lombardozzi singled and scored when Desmond ripped a two-out double to right and Andrew Brown had trouble grabbing the ball after it bounced off the right-field wall.
Ryan Mattheus came out in the ninth for the Nationals. He loaded the bases after allowing back-to-back singles to Juan Lagares and Omar Quintanilla and walking Brown.
Fernando Abad replaced Mattheus and retired Young, Josh Satin and Anthony Recker to end the game.
Game Notes
Desmond and Span both went a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs scored ... Ramos is batting .322 with four home runs and 17 RBI in 17 games since returning from the disabled list on July 4 ... Torres entered the game with a 0.94 ERA, fifth-lowest in the majors with a minimum of 25 innings ... Byrd has 12 multi-hit games in July, including seven in his last 13 games. He also has 19 RBI this month ... The Nationals hit 9-for-12 with runners in scoring position while the Mets were just 1-for-9 with RISP and left 11 men on base.
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