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Fielders have night to forget vs. Mets

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals had some issues with defense during their 7-2 loss to the Mets on Tuesday night.

The trouble started in the fourth inning. It looked as though Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson was going to be caught stealing second base, but catcher Wilson Ramos had problems getting the ball out of his hand and double-clutched before making the throw. Granderson was safe, and he would later score on a single by Wilmer Flores.

"It was a hit-and-run, and [Ramos] just couldn't get it out of his glove," manager Matt Williams said. "He almost got [Granderson] with the double-clutch. He wasn't able to get him."

Things would get worse three innings later. After Flores singled, Kirk Nieuwenhuis pulled a chopper down the first-base line. Clint Robinson took a chance on fielding the ball, but it went by him for a two-base error that put runners on second and third. Both Flores and Nieuwenhuis would score on a single by Eric Campbell, giving the Mets a one-run lead.

"With the ball down the line, Clint decided to go get it, but couldn't," Williams said. "We didn't help ourselves defensively in that regard."

Williams checked with the home-plate umpire Mike Muchlinski to see if the ball was fair, but Muchlinski didn't have a good look because Ramos blocked his view. In addition, the play wasn't reviewable.

"[First-base umpire Mark Wegner] made the fair call. So it's not a reviewable play for us," Williams said.

Kevin Plawecki singled to left to lead off the ninth and advanced to third on a throwing error by left fielder Matt den Dekker. The floodgates opened after that, as the Mets scored four runs off reliever Tanner Roark.

Video: NYM@WSH: Plawecki singles, advances to third on error

Williams was more concerned about Roark giving up the four runs than den Dekker's throwing error.

"The ball was up. Tanner wasn't throwing it where he wanted it to. The single is one thing. When you get a guy on third base, he is under a little bit of pressure. Tanner just couldn't throw where he wanted to."

Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, All Nats All the Time. He also can be found on Twitter @WashingNats.
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