Mets rookie Christian Scott made his highly-anticipated return to the big-league level on Wednesday night against the Nationals and things didn’t quite end as hoped.
The right-hander was efficient to start things off, holding Washington without a hit until Jesse Winker lined a double in the fourth, and he rebounded nicely after that as Keibert Ruiz popped out to end the inning.
Scott was bombarded by the Nationals in the fifth, as the first three batters reached to finally bring in a run, but he again settled down nicely and got a pop out and strike out to escape without further damage.
With his pitch count rising and the bullpen depleted, Carlos Mendoza tried to push the youngster through the sixth but he fell into immediate danger when Winker and James Wood lined back-to-back singles.
Scott almost danced his way out of the frame again, but Luis Garcia crushed a three-run home run to right to spark Washington’s comeback and bring the rookie’s night to a disappointing ending
“We pushed him a little there,” Mendoza said postgame. “Where we were bullpen-wise we were trying to squeeze another out from him and we were up four runs at the time, but he left one up and they made him pay.”
While Scott wasn’t able to come through when his team leaned on him to get three more big outs, the 25-year-old was very appreciative of the skipper showing faith in him in just his sixth big-league outing.
“This ones on me tonight for sure,” he said. “I’m very grateful that Carlos gave me the opportunity there to try to finish the sixth, I let him down today, but hopefully the next time he gives me the opportunity I’ll be able to come through for the team.”
Scott certainly will have another opportunity in the near future, as Mendoza confirmed he’ll stay with the club and make his start the next time through the rotation.
While that one bad pitch may have sunk him and he didn’t quite generate as many swings-and-misses as he would’ve liked this time around, the first-year skipper remains impressed by what he’s seen from the organization’s top pitching prospect.
“Overall I thought he was really good again,” Mendoza said. “This is the same thing we’ve seen from him. This is an aggressive team and he didn’t back down, he stayed on the attack, got quick outs when needed, I thought he was really good other than that pitch there.”
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