Brandon Nimmo hit a three-run homer to cap an impressive nine-run fourth inning and Jose Quintana pitched seven outstanding innings as the host New York Mets rolled to a 10-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.
The Mets (84-68) outscored the Nationals 20-1 in the final two games of the three-game series after eking out a 2-1 victory on Monday on a single by Starling Marte in the 10th. New York is tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second National League wild-card spot, with both teams two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the third and final wild-card spot.
Quintana (10-9) benefited from strong run support for the second straight outing and allowed two hits and two walks to win his fourth straight start. He struck out four and extended his scoreless streak to a career-best 22 2/3 scoreless innings.
Nimmo capped New York’s biggest inning this season with his 20th homer of the season but only his second since Aug. 18. The left fielder reached 20 homers for the second straight season when he hit an 0-1 95-mph fastball from Jacob Barnes into the visiting bullpen beyond the right-center-field fence.
Nimmo started the frame with a walk, moved to second on Pete Alonso’s single and scored on a headfirst slide on a double by Tyrone Taylor to open the scoring.
Mark Vientos then hit a two-run single and rookie Luisangel Acuna delivered an RBI single for a 4-0 lead. After Jose Iglesias singled to extend his hitting streak to 12 games to load the bases and chase Washington rookie starter DJ Herz (4-8), Marte lined a two-run single off Barnes for a 6-0 lead.
Acuna added his second career homer in the eighth as the Mets improved to 9-1 in their past 10 home games.
Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor missed a third straight game with a lower back injury that forced early exits from two games last weekend at Philadelphia.
Herz was rocked for a career-high seven runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings.
C.J. Abrams had both hits off Quintana for the Nationals (68-84), who dropped the final six meetings in the season series with the Mets.
