Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said before Tuesday’s game he had faith in the current roster, even after a mark of 19-30 since June 1.
For at least one night Rizzo was proven prophetic, as the Nationals responded with seven runs in the first inning and three more in the next four at-bats in a 25-4 thumping of the hapless New York Mets.
The third-place Nationals (53-53), who had five homers, began the night 5 ½ games back of the first-place Philadelphia Phillies. It was the largest margin of victory in a game in Nationals history and the most runs ever scored.
“I believe in this team,” Rizzo said.
The onslaught came just hours after Rizzo and Washington’s ownership passed on trading all-star outfielder Bryce Harper, who will be a free agent after this season and entered the game hitting a career-low .220.
Harper (2-for-4) joined in the offensive fireworks, with RBI double in the first, a walk and run scored in the third and RBI double in the fourth as the Nats had a season-high 26 hits.
Washington second baseman Daniel Murphy, who came off the disabled list June 12, had two homers against his former team and drove in six runs on three hits as a light rain fell in the late innings.
“I think that just goes to show how good our management is … and how much faith they have in this team and this clubhouse,” Harper said before the game, after the core of the team remained intact. “And I think we’re coming in here every single day trying to win, trying to do the things we can do to win on a daily basis and that shows from higher up all the way down to us. So, they’ve got a lot of faith in us and that goes a long way.”
It certainly went a long way Tuesday – as did many of the hits by the home club.
“I’m very happy to write Bryce’s name in the lineup still, and looking forward to writing it in every day,” manager Dave Martinez said.
The Nationals have scored at least 10 runs in 10 games this year and the latest outburst came after Washington had just two hits in a 5-0 loss Sunday to the Marlins.
Washington had eight hits in the first inning against Mets starter Steven Matz, who was removed after facing 11 batters and retiring just two of them.
Harper drove in the first run with a double.
Ryan Zimmerman and Murphy had RBI hits and then Tanner Roark, the starting and winning pitcher, had a three-run double to make it 6-0. Anthony Rendon had an RBI single for a 7-0 bulge.
The hit by Zimmerman was the 1695th of his career, setting a Montreal/Washington franchise record as he passed former Expo infielder Tim Wallach.
Murphy had a two-run homer in the second and Matt Wieters added an RBI single to make it 10-0 against Mets reliever Jacob Rhame.
Murphy went deep again in third, with his three-run shot making it 13-0. Murphy has 11 homers against New York since coming to Washington in 2016.
Harper had an RBI double in the fourth and then Zimmerman slammed a two-run homer off reliever Tim Peterson to make it 16-0.
Rendon added to the fun in the fifth, with three-run double to make it 19-0. That gave him three hits and four RBI after he had 10 RBI last year against the Mets in a 23-5 win.
Roark (5-12) picked up his second win in a row even though he leads the league in losses. The right-hander gave up the first career homer to Jeff McNeil in the seventh to ruin the shutout bid and gave up just one run in seven innings, with seven strikeouts.
The Nationals ended the month of July with a record of 11-14. The Mets are 44-60 and turned to veteran infielder Jose Reyes to pitch in the eighth and he gave up a two-run homer to Matt Adams and a three-run shot to Mark Reynolds.
Reyes threw 48 pitches.
Before the game, the Nationals activated Rendon, who had missed several games after the birth of his first child. Washington sent infielder Matt Reynolds back to Triple-A Syracuse and called up pitcher Wander Suero after trading veteran reliever Brandon Kintzler to the Chicago Cubs.
The two-game series ends Wednesday at 12:05 p.m as lefty Tommy Milone starts for the Nationals. He is taking the place of right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who has been on the disabled list since July 22 with neck problems.
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