WASHINGTON — The Mets had runners on second and third with no outs, trailing by a run in the seventh inning Tuesday and with the bottom of their lineup coming to bat. They had faced similar situations with runners in scoring position 76 times over the last week or so, and in only five instances had they gotten a hit. The odds of them scoring did not seem high.
Kevin Plawecki, the rookie catcher, complicated matters by hitting a weak pop-up to the second baseman. Now, with Jacob deGrom due up, Manager Terry Collins had a decision to make: allow his pitcher to hit or take a chance with his weak and inexperienced bench.