Tomas Nido's career game and Francisco Lindor's RBI streak help Mets sweep Nationals

NEW YORK — June is traditionally not a good month for the Mets.

But any indication of a June swoon was put on hold Wednesday as the Mets completed a sweep of the Washington Nationals at Citi Field, with a 5-0 victory.

The Mets have won a season-high six games in a row and completed their first unbeaten homestand of at least six games since April 2015.

Offensively, things looked a little bit different. There was no home run, breaking a streak of eight straight games. The top four hitters in the Mets lineup combined for only two hits Wednesday afternoon. Instead, it was timely hitting by the bottom of the lineup, paired with poor opposing defense and effective Mets pitching, to complete the sweep.

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The Mets head back out West with an 11-game lead in the National League East. It's the largest lead in the division for the Mets at any point in the season since 2006, when they won the division and led by as much as 16.5 games in that season.

Francisco Lindor extends RBI streak

Francisco Lindor's marvelous month of May extended into the first game of June. Lindor had the first Mets hit in the first inning off Evan Lee, making his Major League debut, but was stranded. fter grounding out twice, Lindor was in danger of losing his streak of consecutive games with a run batted in.

But in the seventh inning with runners on the corners and one out, Lindor struck a ball to center field, deep enough for Tomas Nido to score from third base. It gave Lindor his 43rd RBI of the season, tying him with Paul Goldschmidt of St. Louis for third in the majors.

"It's just a different level of concentration," manager Buck Showalter said. "He's always a good concentrator, but the antennas get a little bit longer when he gets a steak out there."

Lindor's streak is now at 10 games, tying Mike Piazza's streak of 10 straight games with an RBI in 1999. Both Lindor and Piazza have 20 total RBI in their streaks. The franchise record also belongs to Piazza, who had an RBI in 15 straight games from June 14-July 2, 2000.

"It's not like I focus more, but I want to get the job done," said Lindor. "I want to do whatever it takes. I'm very focused every at-bat, but when there's someone on base, I've got to do whatever it takes to bring that guy in. A run helps the team win."

The Mets shortstop could approach history later this week. Lindor has tied Hanley Ramirez in 2009 and Alex Rodriguez in 2000 for the second-longest RBI streak by a shortstop since 1954, according to Baseball Reference. The longest streak for the position is the 11-game RBI streak by Carlos Guillen in 2007.

Tomas Nido is king

Tomas Nido may have batted ninth on Wednesday, but his production mirrored what the Mets have been accustomed to seeing at the top of the lineup. Nido went 4-for-4, sparking the majority of the Mets offense in the victory. Nido's four hits in a game set a new career high.

"Offensively, I was just glad I was putting swings on good pitches and taking advantage of what they were giving me," said Nido.

It was Nido's one-out single in the fourth that brought home the first two Mets runs. Nido was credited with only one RBI as Dee Strange-Gordon's error in the field advanced NIdo to second base and allowed Luis Guillorme to score from first. In the seventh, Nido's third hit of the game put him on base and allowed him to score later in the inning on a Lindor sacrifice fly. Nido would double to left field in the eighth inning, driving in a pair to extend the Mets lead to 5-0.

"I wasn't pressing for it," said Nido. "I was just trying to make sure we would win the game."

Nido's performance was the second time in Mets history that a batter in the ninth spot of the lineup had four hits in a game, last done by Juan Lagares on June 6, 2017.

Cookie doesn't crumble

Carlos Carrasco has been especially sharp for the Mets in his second season with the team. In his 10th start of the season, Carrasco was not as effective. Carrasco surrendered five walks, tying a career high, but did not allow a run, earning his sixth win of the season.

Carrasco remained effective in the first inning this season, but surrendered a walk in the opening frame for the first time this year. With two outs in the third, heran into more trouble, walking three in a row to load the bases. Carrasco threw 11 consecutive balls before coming back to strike out Yadiel Hernandez and escape danger.

"The walks weren't indicative of his control," said Showalter. "You could tell he was being careful. If you look at the track record with him and [Juan] Soto and [Nelson] Cruz, you're certain to not let them beat you and he didn't."

After 95 pitches and five innings, Carrasco was out of the game with four hits and five walks allowed, but struck out five as well. Carrasco, as well as the bullpen trio of Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino and Edwin Diaz, combined to end the series with 21 consecutive scoreless innings by Mets pitching.

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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets sweep Washington Nationals behind Tomas Nido