Nationals’ Rendon drives in 10 runs
WASHINGTON - Anthony Rendon had 10 RBIs, three home runs and six hits as the Washington Nationals took advantage of Noah Syndergaard’s “lat strain” injury and mauled the New York Mets 23-5 on Sunday to set a franchise scoring record.
Rendon went a career-best 6-for-6 and scored five times while setting a club mark for RBIs. He became the 13th player in major league history to drive in 10 or more in a game, and the first since Garret Anderson did it for the Angels in 2007.
“I may have had three home runs in high school,” Rendon said, “but never like that with the RBIs.”
Matt Wieters added two homers, a single and two walks as the Nationals salvaged the finale of a three-game series. Adam Lind and Bryce Harper also homered, and Harper scored four runs.
Washington finished with a season-high 23 hits and scored the most runs in the history of the Expos/Nationals franchise. The Nationals’ seven homers were their most since the team moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005.
Rendon began the day with no homers and five RBIs this season. After a two-run single in the first, he followed with a solo homer in the third and a three-run shot in the fourth. He ripped a three-run double off the right-center wall in the fifth and nearly had another RBI when he singled in the seventh, but teammate Daniel Murphy held up at third base.
Rendon, who raised his batting average from .226 to .278, capped his incredible day with a solo home run off Mets backup catcher Kevin Plawecki in the eighth. Harper and Lind went deep against Plawecki earlier in the inning.
“You want balance up and down your lineup and you want everyone to get in on the hit parade,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said.