WASHINGTON (AP) Until he gets another start, Matt Harvey can ponder a Mets comeback that bailed him out in a big game
Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a tiebreaking, pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning off Jonathan Papelbon as the resilient Mets rallied from a six-run deficit to beat the Washington Nationals 8-7 on Tuesday.
The Mets’ second straight comeback win over Washington extended their lead in the NL East to six games.
Harvey gave up a career high seven runs on eight hits in 5 1-3 innings and left with New York trailing 7-1.
Harvey has thrown 171 2-3 innings this year, his first season since undergoing elbow ligament-replacement surgery in October 2013. He and the Mets want to keep his innings count at around 180-185 for the regular season, so it is possible this was Harvey’s last start until early October or in the postseason.
”I’m ready whenever they decide.” Harvey said. ”I think I have a couple mechanical things to work on, but whenever they decide to throw me back out there I’m going to be ready and I’m definitely excited for it.”
The Mets erased the deficit with a six-run seventh inning fueled by six walks and a wild pitch. The big blow was a three-run double by Yoenis Cespedes, who one inning earlier committed an error that allowed three runs to score.
”We’re playing like we don’t have anything to lose, and that’s what we need to do,” said Nieuwenhuis, who gave New York its first lead with a drive to right off Papelbon (3-2). ”I’m just going to enjoy the ride.”
Addison Reed (3-2) worked the seventh and Jeurys Familia got three outs for his 38th save. With two runners on, Familia got Yunel Escobar to ground into a game-ending double play.
The Cubs earned a fifth straight win when Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo homered and combined for seven RBIs in an 8-5 result at St. Louis.
The Cardinals have the best record in the majors at 87-51, but have dropped five of six and their lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central slipped to 4 1/2 games. The Cubs are 6 1/2 back and are second in the NL wild card race behind the Pirates, who beat the Reds 7-3.
At Anaheim, Clayton Kershaw gave up four hits and two runs over seven innings to win his eighth consecutive decision, and Justin Ruggiano hit a leadoff homer as the Dodgers beat the Angles 6-4 for their 13th victory in 15 games.
Corey Seager had a run-scoring double during the Dodgers’ four-run sixth inning in their eighth consecutive win over their Freeway Series rivals.
The Dodgers (80-58) moved to a season-best 22 games over .500 and maintained their healthy 8 1-2 game lead over San Francisco in the NL West.
At Phoenix, Tim Hudson pitched six effective innings in his return to the rotation and hit his first homer in two seasons for San Francisco in a 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
The AL East-leading Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 5-1, with Tulowitzki singling in the go-ahead run off Alexi Ogando to trigger a four-run 10th inning.
Toronto increased its lead in the East to 1 1-2 games over the New York Yankees, who lost 2-1 to Baltimore when Chris Davis led off the ninth inning with his major league-leading 41st home run.
The Yankees began the day a half-game behind AL East-leading Toronto. They failed to take advantage of Masahiro Tanaka’s 10-strikeout performance and Alex Rodriguez’s 30th homer – A-Rod has reached the mark in 15 seasons, tying Hank Aaron’s record.
At Seattle, Cole Hamels shook off a line drive that deflected off his jaw as Texas won 9-6 win to move within one game of first-place Houston in the AL West.
The AL Central-leading Royals hung tough through more than eight innings for a 4-2 win over Minnesota that ended a four-game skid.
At Detroit, Rajai Davis’ sacrifice fly gave the Tigers an 8-7 win over Tampa Bay in a game that went 13 innings and was tied four times, the last at 7-7.
The teams combined to use 29 position players and 16 pitchers, 10 for Detroit, matching the franchise record set in 1998.
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