After 13 years, Cookie's dad finally gets to see son pitch

NEW YORK -- With his father, Luis, in the stands at Citi Field for the first time in his Major League career, Mets right-hander Carlos Carrasco picked up an emotional win on Wednesday in a 5-0 victory over the Nationals.

Carrasco has played in the bigs for 13 seasons, but his father had never attended one of his games until Wednesday. Luis had a chance to see his son play in person over the years. But something always got in the way, whether it was travel delays or attending a game Carlos wasn’t pitching in.

“Today, he made it, so I’m really happy. I went [on the mound] and did my best. I’m glad I did,” Carrasco said. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. This is going to go in a special place for me.”

Washington had Carrasco on the ropes for the most of the game. It didn’t help that Carrasco had five walks in five innings. However, he managed to get out of the jam every time.

Take the third inning, for example. After getting two quick outs, Carrasco couldn’t find the plate and walked the next three hitters to load the bases. Then he looked for his dad behind home plate. Carrasco then calmed down and managed to get out of the jam by striking out Yadiel Hernandez to end the threat, finishing his day after throwing 95 pitches. One can imagine how Luis felt, and the SNY cameras captured his elated reaction after his son's inning-ending K.

“I saw the video. He was so happy,” Carrasco said. “I was trying to do my best, to give him the best I [could] to my dad, as well as the team. I almost cried at that point right there. I’m happy that he was able to see it and enjoyed the game, too.”

After the game, Luis went to the home locker room and embraced his son. This came after Carrasco received the WWE belt for Player of the Game. Every time a player gets that belt, he has to dance and Luis danced with his son.

“It was really fun,” Carrasco said. “It was really nice, really special what the guys did for me.”

The Mets’ offense bailed out Carrasco in the fourth inning off left-hander Evan Lee, who was making his Major League debut. With runners on first and second, Tomás Nido singled to center to center field, scoring J.D. Davis. Nationals center fielder Dee Strange-Gordon bobbled the ball on the play, allowing Luis Guillorme to touch home plate to give New York a two-run lead.

In the seventh inning, the Mets added to their lead when Francisco Lindor hit a sacrifice fly off reliever Kyle Finnegan, scoring Nido. Lindor extended his RBI streak to a career-high 10 games, which tied Mike Piazza for second longest in Mets history.

"When there is somebody on base, I have to do whatever it takes to bring the guy in,” Lindor said.

Right-hander Jordan Weems was on the mound for Washington in the bottom of the eighth inning when Nido hit a two-run double that went past left fielder Hernandez to give New York a five-run lead. Nido ended up with the first four-hit game of his career to raise his season batting average to .253.

“Offensively, I was glad I was swinging at some good pitches and taking advantage of what they were giving me,” Nido said. “All in all, our pitching staff was unbelievable this series. Two shutouts, back to back. I thought it was great."

New York now heads to the West Coast on a six-game winning streak and faces the Dodgers in a four-game series, starting Thursday. The Mets also play the Padres and Angels during the trip.

“It will determine how persistent we are, because we are going to be tired,” Lindor said. “We are going to spend three trips on the West Coast. We are going to be getting up at 7:00 a.m., when it’s [4] in the morning. You have the time zone. And then the games are going to be at 10:00 [at night East Coast time]. Then we will finish at 1:00 a.m. It’s going to determine how persistent, resilient and how we can handle adversity.”