Taijuan Walker, with a rested bullpen behind him and an off day coming, realistically only needed to get through five or so innings Sunday.
The Mets got the bonus package.
In his most efficient start of the season, even without his best stuff, the right-hander — with superb defense behind him — fired seven shutout innings to lead a 4-0 victory over the Nationals at Citi Field. The Mets won two of three in the series to stabilize things following a disastrous trip to Wrigley Field in which they were swept three games.
Walker allowed three hits over the seven innings (95 pitches) with three walks and a hit batter in lowering his ERA to 2.14. The strong performance followed a six-walk clunker by Walker against the Cubs on Wednesday that lasted only 3 ²/₃ innings.
“My goal is to go out there and pound the strike zone and make them put the ball in play,” Walker said. “I had the three walks today, but usually I make them put the ball in play and let my defense work and that is what they did today.
“It was just one of those games where I just had to grind and had to battle and go out there and try to find a way to get outs. It felt good to go seven innings. It felt good to get a win and it was a great series win for us.”
Manager Luis Rojas shuffled his lineup to get right-handed bats in the batting order against lefty Patrick Corbin. That meant starts for Jonathan Villar and Albert Almora Jr., leaving Jeff McNeil and Dominic Smith on the bench. The start for Almora was his first of the season.
And his presence was noted in the sixth, when he raced to the fence, leaping, and snagged Kyle Schwarber’s drive to center, likely saving the Mets two runs.
“If it was in the ballpark, I knew I was going to catch it,” Almora said.
Francisco Lindor’s glove robbed Yan Gomes of a line-drive single leading off the sixth, and Michael Conforto and Villar executed a perfect relay to Davis that nailed Victor Robles attempting to stretch a double into a triple in the third, as part of the Mets’ big game defensively.
“We’ve had some struggles in some games, but I think we bring the confidence every day that we’re going to be a good defensive team,” Rojas said.
J.D. Davis, inserted at cleanup because of his strong career numbers against Corbin, blasted a two-run homer in the first inning to get the Mets started. The homer was Davis’ fourth in 28 career at-bats against Corbin. Pete Alonso, shifted to the No. 2 hole, had walked before Davis delivered with two outs.
Conforto just missed a two-run homer in the fourth, but his double behind Davis’ single gave the Mets a rally. James McCann then found the hole between shortstop and third base for an RBI single that extended the Mets’ lead to 3-0.
Corbin was finished in the fifth, after surrendering a leadoff homer to Alonso and single to Lindor. Alonso’s blast, which landed in the black section near the home run apple, was his team-leading fifth. Later in the inning, Schwarber’s strong throw to the plate nailed Lindor attempting to score from third on Conforto’s fly to left field, squelching a potential big inning.
Miguel Castro allowed two singles in the eighth, but escaped by striking out Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Bell in succession. Edwin Diaz pitched a perfect ninth in his first appearance since allowing a walk-off RBI single to Jason Heyward in the 10th inning Thursday.
The Mets now get a day off to prepare for two games against the Red Sox at Citi Field.
“I felt today we were a real tough team to play against,” Alonso said. “We were hitting on cylinders on defense and we swung the bat well today. It was a great team win and I am looking forward to this next set.”
