NEW YORK -- Count newcomer Yoenis Cespedes among those not expecting the Washington Nationals to intentionally walk him in the eighth inning to get with Lucas Duda.
“I was surprised,” Cespedes said through an interpreter. “I didn’t think for a minute they were going to walk me.”
Duda followed with a double against left-hander Matt Thornton that plated Curtis Granderson with the decisive run, and the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 3-2, on Saturday at Citi Field.
Thornton entered the game holding lefty batters to a .167 average and .184 on-base percentage this season.
Cespedes, dropped into a pennant race after spending the season's opening four months with the Detroit Tigers, said he loved the atmosphere for his Mets debut. The sellout crowd of 42,996 at Citi Field was the second-largest for a Mets game in the stadium’s seven-season history.
“The stadium was just how I like to play,” Cespedes said. “… It was full. It was full of energy. A lot of screaming fans. I enjoyed that.”
Cespedes finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout and the intentional walk. He batted third and started in left field, although he could shift to center field as soon as Sunday’s series finale against the Nats.
“Who knows what would have happened if I would have actually gotten to take a swing?” Cespedes concluded about the intentional walk. “So if that was the best thing for the team, then I’m OK with it going that way.”
