Irvin 'pretty tough' on Mets during 7 1/3-inning gem

NEW YORK -- What a difference two months can make. On July 9, Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin pitched at Citi Field and was hit hard, allowing six runs in six innings during a loss to the Mets.

It was a different story on Monday night on the same field. Irvin was dealing in the Nationals’ 2-1 loss in 10 innings against the team from Queens.

The score was tied at 1 in the 10th when Starling Marte swung at a 3-1 pitch from right-hander Jacob Barnes and singled to left field, scoring Harrison Bader to end the game.

The game-winning hit spoiled a great outing from Irvin, who pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed one run on four hits while striking out five.

“I was trying to keep us in the game as long as possible,” Irvin said. “[Catcher] Keibert [Ruiz] did a good job calling that game. The defense made some great plays. Overall, [I was] just staying in attack mode, making guys earn it and getting ahead.”

For Irvin, he felt that playoff atmosphere in Flushing with 21,694 fans in attendance. The Mets are trying to reach the postseason as one of the National League Wild Card teams. Irvin is hoping that the Nationals will play in October in the near future.

“The stadium wasn’t even at max capacity and you can feel it,” Irvin said. “It was pumping and that’s where we want to be, especially for a lot of these young guys who haven’t played in atmospheres like that yet. That was really good.”

Irvin had his way with New York from the start, retiring the first nine hitters he faced. He relied heavily on his sinker (41 percent of the time) and four-seam fastball (38 percent).

“Yeah, he was pretty tough on our righties,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That sinker in enough … to our righties was pretty tough. We didn't hit too many balls hard off him. … Today was another outing for him that we had to grind. A couple decent at-bats, but not many hard-hit balls. So I think it was because of that sinker against righties, specifically.”

The first sign of trouble for Irvin came in the fourth. New York had the bases loaded with two outs, but Irvin helped himself on defense to get out of the jam. Mark Vientos hit a slow roller up the third-base line, but Irvin darted off the mound, grabbed the ball and threw out Vientos, yelling at no one in particular after the great play. Irvin then went into the dugout and told manager Dave Martinez that he was OK.

“We tried to preach the fundamentals here. For me, I take a lot of pride in fielding my position,” Irvin said. “There are [nine] guys back there and I’m one of them. I have to be able to make plays in a big situation like that. It’s definitely rewarding to put in the work.”

Irvin brought his emotions back to neutral and went on to retire eight of the next nine batters he faced. Martinez allowed Irvin to start the eighth inning with a 1-0 lead. The righty allowed a leadoff double to Tyrone Taylor and left the game after Francisco Alvarez grounded out as Taylor advanced to third base.

Reliever Derek Law entered to replace Irvin and it looked like he was going to get out of the inning. After Law got Marte to ground out with the infield in, keeping Taylor at third, Jose Iglesias hit a shot right back at the right-hander. The ball hit the back of Law’s glove and then slowly rolled toward no-man’s land behind the mound, allowing Taylor to score the tying run.

No matter what happens the rest of the way, Irvin has been one of Washington’s best starters. Entering Monday’s action, he led the entire staff in bWAR (2.2) and currently leads the team in innings pitched (179 1/3) and wins (10).

“The beginning of the year, we talked to him about focusing on attacking the strike zone and keeping the ball down and he did that,” Martinez said. “He has been really good. I really felt he really had a chance to make the All-Star team. That’s how good he was. He had a little funk after that, then he came right back and he has been really good.”