Jake Irvin silences the Mets in a masterful Fourth of July performance

In bare feet, he strode across the clay-colored dirt and dry grass, took a deep breath and stepped atop the pitcher’s mound, which was still covered in a tarp. After staring in at an imaginary catcher, he pantomimed throwing a pitch, holding a cold water bottle in his left hand in place of a glove.

The right-hander then brought the same level of tranquility to a humid holiday morning matinee against the New York Mets, silencing one of baseball’s most potent offenses of the last month. Over eight scoreless innings, he struck out eight and surrendered just one hit and one walk as the Nationals won 1-0. Jesse Winker’s solo shot off Mets reliever Adrian Houser in the bottom of the eighth provided the lone run of the game.

Irvin, 27, has just over a year of major league service time, but that makes him a veteran in a young and inexperienced Nationals rotation. Making one last case for a spot on the National League’s 12-man pitching staff in his final start before all-star rosters are announced Sunday, Irvin dominated the Mets, inducing 15 whiffs on 47 swings, including seven on his curveball. On his final pitch of the day, he struck out Tyrone Taylor on a four-seam fastball and celebrated demonstrably, yelling and pumping up the crowd.

For the season, Irvin’s ERA now stands at 2.80 while his WHIP is at a tidy 1.00 after he yielded just two base runners. Both are top-six marks in the National League.

As has been the case for most of the season, Irvin suffered from a lack of run support; for the 12th time in his 18 starts, the Nationals put just two or fewer runs on the board. Winker, who began the game on the bench with the Mets starting a lefty, came on as a pinch hitter for DH Harold Ramirez and drove a curveball into the left field seats. After he circled the bases, he stood at home plate, placed his hand over his heart and saluted to the dugout.

Washington thus concluded its four-game series against New York with a split. The Nationals had lost their first six meetings against the Mets this season before winning on Wednesday and Thursday.

In the midst of a stretch of 17 consecutive games without a day off, Washington returns to Nationals Park on Friday to begin a four-game wraparound series against the St. Louis Cardinals.