Taijuan Walker pitched three-hit ball over seven innings in his first win of the season, J.D. Davis hit a two-run homer in the first off a faltering Patrick Corbin and the Mets beat Washington, 4-0, Sunday to take two of three in the matchup of N.L. East rivals.
Corbin lost his 10th straight decision dating to last August.
Walker (1-1), who signed a $23 million, three-year contract as a free agent, made his fourth start.
“Give it up to the defense, man, They really helped me out today,” Walker said. “I didn’t have my best stuff. They came through for me. The offense putting up runs early was helpful, too. Let me attack and just go after hitters.”
Walker allowed a pair of leadoff runners but picked off Josh Harrison in the first and got help in the third when Victor Robles was throwing out trying to stretch a leadoff double to right, with Michael Conforto throwing to second baseman Jonathan Villar, who made the toss to Davis at third for the tag.
“It was a tough read on Victor,” Nationals Manager Dave Martinez said. “The ball’s in front of him. For him, it’s just these young mistakes. Right there, you can’t make the first out at third base.”
Albert Almora Jr. made a running, leaping catch at the center-field wall of a Kyle Schwarber drive to end the sixth and save two runs.
“That was such a sexy catch,” said Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who homered into the black beyond the center field fence leading off the fifth. “I got so fired up.”
Almora and Schwarber were teammates on the 2016 World Series-winning Chicago Cubs and spent their entire careers together until they were non-tendered by the Cubs last Dec. 2.
“Schwarber’s one of my best friends, but at the end of the day, the game of baseball comes first,” said Almora, who said he played video games with Schwarber following Saturday’s game. “He’s going to have plenty more opportunities to hit homers and hit doubles. I’m sure he understands.”
Schwarber couldn’t suppress a grin as Almora raced off the field accepting congratulations from his new teammates.
“I just couldn’t help and laugh there,” Schwarber said. “When I hit It, I thought it might have a chance. But as he kept running, I was like ‘Oh man, it might have to get over his head.’ He made a really good catch there.”
Walker struck out four and walked three.
Davis had three hits, raising his average to .414, and scored on James McCann’s R.B.I. single in the fourth. Davis’s home run, which followed Alonso’s walk, gave him four homers in 27 at-bats against Corbin.
“He is an ace, he does deserve some respect so I’m not going to come up here and say how easy it is,” Davis said. “It’s just one of those things in baseball where you just have a little more success against one individual pitcher. And Corbin would be that guy.”
Corbin (0-3) allowed four runs, seven hits and three walks in four-plus innings, lowering his E.R.A. from 10.95 to 10.47. He is 0-10 in 11 starts since winning at Citi Field last Aug. 10.
Yadiel Hernandez had two hits for the Nationals.
Big Day from Franmil Reyes Sinks Yankees
Franmil Reyes hit a three-run homer, tripled and stole his first career base, helping Cleveland avoid a four-game series sweep with a 7-3 victory over the Yankees on Sunday.
Reyes homered in the fourth off Jameson Taillon (0-2) as Cleveland overcame a 3-0 deficit and took a 4-3 lead. Reyes a burly 6-foot-5, 265-pounder, led off the sixth with his second big league triple and scored on Jordan Luplow’s double against Nick Nelson for a 6-3 advantage.
Gio Urshela hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Triston McKenzie and Mike Ford followed with a solo shot five pitches later, the Yankees’ first back-to-back homers this year. The Yankees, tied for last in the A.L. East at 9-12, were seeking their first four-game sweep in Cleveland since 1996.
Rookie Sam Hentges (1-0), making his second big league appearances following his debut Tuesday, allowed two hits in one and two-thirds innings of relief.
Emmanuel Clase worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save in six chances. Four relievers combined for shutout, two-hit ball, and Cleveland stopped its four-game losing streak.
Reyes’s home run, his fifth this season, landed just beyond the reach of 6-foot-7 right fielder Aaron Judge.
Taillon allowed four runs and five hits in four innings with six strikeouts and no walks. Coming back from his second Tommy John surgery, he has a 6.23 E.R.A. and has not pitched more than five innings in any of his four starts. He is winless since May 1, 2019.
D.J. LeMahieu, in a 2-for-17 slump, was given the day off. The reigning A.L. batting champion has a .260 average with one homer and six R.B.I. in 19 games.
Giancarlo Stanton had a 120.1 mile-per-hour single in the first, the hardest-hit ball in the major leagues this season.
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