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Nationals win by historic 21-runs that leaves Mets with worst loss ever

The Washington Nationals set a franchise record for margin of victory and scored the most runs by a National League team since 1995.
Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals tosses his bat after flying out against the New York Mets during the second inning at Nationals Park on July 31, 2018 in Washington, DC.

The New York Mets were considered one of the losers of MLB's trade deadline day.

And then they played an actual game.

The Mets were obliterated by the Nationals, 25-4, on Tuesday night in Washington.

"Those guys were locked in," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said.

"They came out tonight and beat us up pretty bad."

Steven Matz, a pitcher many thought would be on the move, got the start and proceeded to go just 2/3 of an inning, giving up eight hits and seven runs before giving the ball over to Jacob Rhame.

Things did not go better for him, as he gave up seven hits and an additional six runs in two innings.

Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Austin Jackson #16 of the New York Mets cannot make a catch on a hit by Michael Taylor #3 of the Washington Nationals (not pictured) during the second inning at Nationals Park on July 31, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Tim Peterson gave up three runs in 1⅓ innings. Tyler Bashlor followed with three more runs allowed in ⅔ of an inning.

The Nationals were not held scoreless until Jerry Blevins' sixth inning, having scored seven runs in the first, three in the second, three in the third, three in the fourth and three in the fifth.

The Nationals returned for much more in the eighth inning when they teed off on shortstop Jose Reyes, who was called on to pitch the final frame. He gave up six runs, including two homers and a hit batter, in his first MLB pitching appearance.

"When you go to the mound, before you throw a pitch, it's fun," Reyes said. "When you start to see homers and stuff, even though I'm not a pitcher, I don't want to see that."

The Nationals, who chose not to deal star Bryce Harper at the deadline, set franchise records in the D.C. era for hits (26), runs and margin of victory and scored the most runs by a National League team since 1995.

“It’s been an emotional day and it was a good way to end it,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. In addition to the trade deadline, Trea Turner apologized pregame to his teammates for his old offensive tweets.

The Nats' previous margin of victory high was 18 runs in April 2017, also coming against the Mets. The team also saw Ryan Zimmerman become the franchise's overall hits leader, passing Tim Wallach, with a two-hit performance that gave him 1,696 hits in his career.

And somehow it could have been worse for the Mets, who actually got three runs back in the ninth inning against Shawn Kelley.

Still, the end result was the worst loss in Mets history as the team lost by at least 20 runs for the first time. The franchise's previous worst loss was a 26-7 setback against the Phillies in 1985.

"It's a tough loss," Callaway said. "It's embarrassing. We got to do better than that."

Contributing: Matt Ehalt, USA TODAY Network, and Associated Press

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