NEW YORK — Kodai Senga threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings Thursday before leaving with a hamstring strain in the New York Mets’ 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals that completed a three-game sweep.
Senga (7-3) allowed one hit and one walk before getting hurt while making a leaping grab of Pete Alonso’s high throw on CJ Abrams’ grounder between first and second. Senga touched the bag with his right foot on the way down but stumbled upon landing and reached for the back of his right leg. He hopped a couple of steps before tumbling to the ground.
After being surrounded by a trainer, his interpreter, manager Carlos Mendoza and teammates, Senga walked off the field under his own power. He lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.47, but will be placed on the injured list.
“He’s going to get an MRI tomorrow, we’ll see the severity of it,” Mendoza said. “But he’s going to be on (the) IL here. So we’ve just got to wait and see what we’re dealing with.”
Alonso has struggled making accurate throws to pitchers covering first base this season, but Senga relayed to Alonso that he got injured before he reached for the toss.
“I talked to (Alonso) right away as soon as the inning was over — I went up to him and I was like, `Hey man, this is baseball, it happens,’” Mendoza said. “And then Senga went in, he sent the translator and basically told him, hey, I felt it on the step before the jump, so tell him not to worry about it.”
Alonso remained downcast after the game.
“I still feel awful,” Alonso said. “I tried to make the best throw I could and it just sucks. It sucks to be involved in that. Senga, he’s one of our guys here and it sucks. You hate to see anyone go down, Yeah, it sucks being a part of that.”
Jeff McNeil stayed hot with a three-run homer in the first for the Mets, who have won six straight to improve to an MLB-best 45-24. Brandon Nimmo homered off the right field foul pole in the fifth.
The Nationals snapped a 22-inning scoreless streak by rallying for three runs in the ninth, when Luis García Jr. and Josh Bell hit RBI singles and García scored on a wild pitch before Edwin Díaz got José Tena and Keibert Ruiz to ground out to earn his 15th save.
Washington’s Michael Soroka (3-4) gave up all four runs and struck out five in five innings.
Key moment
Díaz needed just two pitches to retire Tena and Ruiz following his run-scoring wild pitch.
Key stat
McNeil was 4-of-11 with five RBIs during the series and is batting .316 with four homers and 10 RBIs this month.
Up next
The Mets continue a six-game homestand Friday when RHP Clay Holmes (7-3, 2.95 ERA) starts for the Mets in the opener of a three-game series against RHP Taj Bradley (4-5, 4.58 ERA) and the Tampa Bay Rays. LHP Mitchell Parker (4-6, 4.44 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Nationals, who return home to face the Miami Marlins and RHP Edward Cabrera (2-2, 3.99 ERA).
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