Marcus Stroman, Mets' defense hit snag in loss to Nationals

If you are looking for an explanation about or otherwise assign blame for the Mets’ 7-1 loss to the Nationals on Saturday, don’t try too hard. Virtually nothing went right.

The lineup made another mediocre starting pitcher look better than that, scoring one run in six innings against Washington righthander Joe Ross. Marcus Stroman pitched poorly, allowing five runs (four earned) in four innings. And the defense didn’t help, making one error and several other questionable plays.

Altogether, it created another steep, sudden drop in what has been an early-season roller coaster for the Mets. After the high of Friday night — Jacob deGrom’s 15-strikeout, two-hit shutout — they fell back to .500 at 8-8.

"There’s a lot of things that we can do better," Michael Conforto said. "There’s no denying that. But … we’ll get it figured out."

Conforto’s home run accounted for the Mets’ only run. Pete Alonso had two of the Mets’ six hits. They were hitless in three chances with runners in scoring position and stranded seven men on base.

"We had a couple of chances to drive in runs today," manager Luis Rojas said, "and we didn’t do it again."

Stroman’s four earned runs were double his total from his previous three starts combined. The Nationals scored in each of his frames, thrice with an assist from the Mets’ defense.

The first batter of the game, Josh Harrison, singled to rightfield but reached third when the ball skipped past Conforto for a two-base error. Harrison scored when the next batter, Yadiel Hernandez, lined a sacrifice fly to leftfield, giving Washington a lead four pitches into the game.

"I got a little aggressive, going to try to maybe catch it," Conforto said. "Had I stayed back on it, I probably keep that ball in front of me."

An inning later, the Nats added a run on Ross’ two-out single through the right side of the infield. Conforto’s throw from shallow rightfield took two hops on its way to catcher James McCann, arriving after Starlin Castro scored from second base.

"Just a bad throw. That’s all it is," Conforto said. "I gotta be able to throw that guy out there. That was frustrating."

The third-inning rally began when leftfield Dominic Smith slid for, but did not catch, Hernandez’s line drive. It went off his glove for a single.

Mixed in was lots of hard contact against Stroman. Of 16 batted balls, 11 were hit at 95 mph or faster.

"It was eight singles," Stroman said. "It wasn’t like I was getting barreled up out of the ballpark and in gaps. It could’ve went differently."

It got worse upon the entrance of lefthander Stephen Tarpley, who faced four batters in his Mets debut. All of them reached base: walk, single, walk, bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. That lasted 15 pitches. The home crowd booed Tarpley as he walked off the mound, having failed to record an out.

Tarpley’s ERA is infinity.

"You gotta throw strikes," Rojas said.

Robert Gsellman spared some of the rest of the relievers with three hitless innings. In four appearances this season (all in the past eight days), Gsellman has been effective in three of them.

Two themes of the Mets’ week: weak starting pitching and defense to match.

In the past five games — a full turn through the rotation — only one Mets starter (deGrom) has reached the fifth inning. In that same stretch, the team has committed seven errors and allowed eight unearned runs.

Overall this season, nearly one-quarter of the Mets’ runs allowed — 16 of 67 — have been unearned.

"We know that’s not our identity as a team," Conforto said. "We’re solid all around."