WASHINGTON — Jenrry Mejia has jumped back into the conversation regarding the Mets’ young pitching talent.
The almost-forgotten righty seized the opportunity he was given Friday, with seven shutout innings in the Mets’ 11-0 demolition of the Nationals in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
In his first major league appearance this season, Mejia allowed seven hits, struck out seven and did not allow a walk. Daniel Murphy carried the offensive load with a 4-for-5 performance that included two homers and five RBIs, helping the Mets (46-53) move within seven games of .500 – the closest they have been to even since completing a four-game sweep of the Yankees on May 30.
The 23-year-old Mejia has battled elbow problems for most of the last three seasons – and may need surgery for bone chips after this year is complete – but his signature pitch, the cutter, has returned.
If Mejia is all the way back, he joins a crop of young power pitchers, including Rafael Montero, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, that could give the Mets layers of talent behind Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Jon Niese.
Mejia got stronger as Friday’s game progressed, retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.
Mets manager Terry Collins indicated that Mejia could remain in the bigs as part of a six-man rotation.
Murphy slapped a run-scoring single to left in the ninth inning that allowed him to match a career high with five RBIs. Later in the inning, Ike Davis hit a three-run homer. The blast was Davis’ first since June 2, eight days before he was demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Juan Lagares and Murphy each delivered an RBI single in the seventh that extended the Mets’ lead to 5-0.
Murphy’s two-run homer in the third gave the Mets a 3-0 lead. Lagares began the rally with a two-out double before Murphy hit a shot just inside the right-field foul pole. It gave Murphy his second career two-homer game – his other came on June 27 of last year at Wrigley Field.
Murphy his a 440-foot blast to right-center in the first to give the Mets their initial run against Jordan Zimmermann (12-6).