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Mets-Nationals Preview

Jul 20, 2015 - 1:38 AM The New York Mets and Washington Nationals have played some low-scoring games recently, and given the pitchers who will open their next series, another seems likely.

Matt Harvey and Gio Gonzalez bring impressive scoreless streaks against their respective NL East foes into Monday night's meeting at Nationals Park, and neither team showed much in the way of offense over the weekend.

Harvey (8-6, 3.07 ERA) hasn't been scored on in his last 16 innings against Washington (49-41), but his more immediate concerns have to do with control.

In a 4-2 home win over Arizona on July 11, the right-hander held the Diamondbacks to two runs and five hits while striking out nine in seven innings. It was good enough to earn the victory, but Harvey walked four and has issued nine over his last two starts. That comes after he'd walked 17 in his first 15 starts, but his manager at least thought he was trending in the right direction as the game progressed.

"As you saw the game went, his command got better, stuff got better," Terry Collins said. "He got into three, four, five and he got into a rhythm."

Harvey is 3-1 with a 0.68 ERA in six career starts against the Nationals, which includes 14 innings in Washington without allowing an earned run. Bryce Harper is 0 for 12 with six strikeouts against the Mets ace.

For the Nationals, Harvey is the latest in a brutal stretch against top-level starters that will continue with All-Star Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Washington failed to score against Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke over the weekend and totaled two runs and 10 hits in the two losses after Sunday's 5-0 loss to Los Angeles. Over a 1-4 home span, the Nationals have scored nine runs while hitting .154.

"Do you want us to duck tail and run?" said Clint Robinson, who's in a 2-for-19 slump at home. "I've said before, this is the big leagues, that's part of it. These guys are the best in the world for a reason, and you've just got to go out there and rise up to the challenge."

Ian Desmond went hitless again Sunday and is in a 3-for-44 slump, but Yunel Escobar was 2 for 4 and is batting .345 in his last 21 games.

Gonzalez (6-4, 3.99) hasn't yielded a run to the Mets (48-44) over the last 15 2-3 innings with consecutive victories to improve to 8-4 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 career starts. Wilmer Flores (0 for 10), Curtis Granderson (3 for 24) and Lucas Duda (3 for 17) have struggled in this matchup, but Juan Lagares is 8 for 19 with a home run.

The left-hander has also probably put together his best three-start span this season with a 2-0 record and 0.90 ERA after limiting Baltimore to one run and six hits in six innings of a 3-2 road win on July 10. He's credited catcher Jose Lobaton, whom he's worked with for each of the three starts, with some of the success.

"He is helping me out with pitches low in the zone," Gonzalez told MLB's official website. "Lobby and I are in sync right now. He is calling a great game, and I'm just throwing it where he wants it."

Most of Gonzalez's success has come at home, where he's 4-1 with a 2.44 ERA in seven starts, and the Mets have shown no evidence lately of being able to beef that up.

In Sunday's 3-1 18-inning win , they stranded a franchise record-matching 25 runners and went 1 for 26 with runners in scoring position, which drops them to 3 for 62 in seven games.

There were six runs scored in the most recent three-game series between the teams, with the Nationals winning each of the last two 1-0.