It was a playoff atmosphere at Citi Field Thursday night, and the defending National League champion New York Mets rose to the occasion.
The Mets rallied from a pair of middle-inning deficits to defeat the Washington Nationals, 9-7, in the opener of a four-game weekend series between the top two teams in the NL East.
Daniel Murphy (.346/.384/.580, 15 HR, 59 RBI), Bryce Harper (.261/.400/.504, 19 HR, 52 RBI) and Anthony Rendon (.263/.349/.420, 9 HR, 33 RBI) all homered for Washington.
The Nationals (51-36) knocked out Mets starter Bartolo Colon early. Colon gave up six runs on 10 hits in four and two-thirds innings, but the New York bullpen picked up the slack, allowing one run on two hits in four and a third innings, striking out seven and walking two.
Nats starter Lucas Giolito (0-0, 4.70 ERA, 1.83 WHIP) gave up four runs on seven hits in three and two-thirds innings, striking out four and walking four in his second career MLB start.
Oliver Perez (2-2, 5.01 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits in an inning and two-thirds of relief.
The Mets (47-38) are three games back of Washington in the NL East race.
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