WASHINGTON — The Mets lost a game, some momentum and they hope nothing more.
A rally stalled, a super-bullpen was wasted and Brandon Nimmo was a concern during a 5-4 defeat at Nationals Park on Wednesday, when the Mets snapped a three-game winning streak.
The Mets (67-59) fought back from a four-run deficit that Kodai Senga dug — but not all the way back in a game that did not include Nimmo past the second inning.
The scare arrived quickly: Nimmo, who had grounded into a double play in the first, was out of the game by the bottom of the second with what the team called neck stiffness.
Nimmo has a history of neck issues, including a bulging disk that erased most of his 2019 season.
There was no immediate update concerning the severity from the club, but any absence of Nimmo for a team in a playoff hunt and a team that has lost Francisco Alvarez for at least a couple of weeks would be difficult to weather.
The left fielder has been a fixture at the top of the order, with a .761 OPS and 20 home runs, and would not be easily replaced.
Down another hitter, the Mets could not overcome yet another shaky outing from Senga.
Senga has not been the same pitcher since returning from the injured list in July. After this five-plus inning, five-run (four-earned) performance, he owns a 6.00 ERA while recording two outs in the sixth inning in his past six starts.
This one was odd, the first two runs scoring softly. But he had no such excuse for the ensuing three.
The Mets fell behind in the third, when a walk (that should have been a strikeout) and catcher’s interference put two on base. With runners on the corners, CJ Abrams chopped a ball to Pete Alonso, and Abrams outraced Senga to first base to score a run on an infield single. Josh Bell then added another on a sacrifice fly.
After Senga was cracked, he was battered. Two doubles and a triple scored two runs in the fourth. Bell destroyed a home run into the seats in right-center in the fifth.
The Mets’ response began with a demolished home run from Brett Baty — 455 feet into the second deck in right for his longest career dinger — in the fifth before the offense came together in a nine-batter, three-run sixth.
After Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto walked, Alonso flung an RBI double down the right field line. Jeff McNeil remained hot and scored two more with a double into the left field corner to bring the Mets within one.
They could not get over the hump, though, loading the bases with one out before Cedric Mullins’ fly out was too shallow to score a run and Luis Torrens grounded out.
In a game Carlos Mendoza clearly wanted — going to Tyler Rogers, Gregory Soto and Reed Garrett for three scoreless innings — the offense could not squeak a run across after the sixth.
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