Cespedes, Mets sweep Nationals despite Harper's efforts

Bryce Harper did just about everything in his power Wednesday night to keep the Washington Nationals' waning postseason dreams alive, blasting a pair of home runs in his team's series finale with the New York Mets, who took the field with a comfortable six-game lead atop the National League East.

With one mighty swing, though, Yoenis Cespedes rendered Harper's efforts meaningless and reduced Washington to little more than an afterthought in the National League postseason picture, his late-game heroics sending New York to a 4-3 victory and a three-game sweep at Nationals Park.

"This is the biggest three games I've had in my career," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

With Cespedes at the plate in the top of the eighth, the score even at 2-2 by virtue of Kelly Johnson's pinch-hit solo shot moments prior, reliever Drew Storen hung a 1-0 breaking ball to the newly acquired outfielder. And Cespedes, who entered Wednesday's game with five homers in his previous seven games, showed exactly why he was brought to New York at the trade deadline.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Cespedes' go-ahead blast, his 14th in 36 games since arriving in Queens at the end of July, afforded the Mets a 4-2 lead that proved insurmountable despite Harper's solo shot in the bottom of the eighth. It also left some of his teammates fawning.

"He's so cool," Johnson said of Cespedes, who also added an infield single in the first inning.

The Mets' third straight victory increased their lead over the Nationals to seven games, with only one three-game set remaining between the two division rivals this season. And even though they haven't played a postseason game since 2006, it's time to start taking the Mets seriously, according to Collins.

"We're legitimate," he said. "This is not a fluke."