BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS...July 31, 2018, five years ago today:
The highest-scoring game in Washington Nationals franchise history and the worst loss in New York Mets history, all rolled into one, as the Nats pummel the Mets 25-4 in D.C.
The Nationals’ team scoring mark dated to their days when they were born as the Montreal Expos in 1969. It was the Mets' most-lopsided loss in their 57-season history, eclipsing a 26-7 pounding by Philadelphia in 1985. Washington became just the 10th team in MLB's modern era (since 1900) to score 25 or more runs in a home game.
Washington’s biggest bat belonged to Daniel Murphy, a former Met, who hit two home runs and had six RBI. Leadoff man Trea Turner logged four hits, with two hits and two stolen bases in the first inning alone. As is typical in games like this, New York infielder Jose Reyes was called upon to finish it on the mound, and he gave up six runs and two homers in one inning of work. According to ESPN, “This game got so out of hand, Mets television announcers Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling and Gary Cohen took turns reading verbatim from the team's media guide in the late innings—the SNY network played the theme from ‘Masterpiece Theatre’ in the background.”
Washington was an interesting study at that point. The 2018 campaign would mark the Nationals’ seventh straight winning season, but at 82-80, many wondered if the party was over. They had won the National League East in each of the previous two seasons but had parted ways with manager Dusty Baker and hired Dave Martinez. Washington was 53-53 at the end of July, and there was speculation that it would unload some players at the trade deadline (star centerfielder Bryce Harper for one). But the Nationals bet on the future and stood pat.
Despite losing Harper to free agency the following year, the Nationals would win the first World Series in Washington/Montreal history, beating the Houston Astros four games-to-three in the Fall Classic. The only time the franchise had made it as far as the National League Championship Series was in Montreal in 1981. The old Washington Senators were a staple of the American League until becoming the Texas Rangers in 1969. But the last World Series the Senators won was in 1924.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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