The Mets were defeated by the Washington Nationals 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Clover Park.

New York is now 4-3 in Grapefruit League play.

Here are some takeaways...

- Brett Baty was able to make his spring training debut after being slowed by a hamstring issue early in camp. He looked smooth in what was his first appearance at first base, and went hitless over his two at-bats, but did make good contact on a 108.7 mph lineout to right in the bottom of the second.

- Francisco Alvarez was also in the lineup for the first time this spring, after the Mets opted to play things safe with him early on. The young backstop caught four innings and went hitless as well, but he did win an ABS challenge to overturn strike three to ball four in the second.

- Saturday was Mike Tauchman's turn to make his mark in the Mets' crowded right field competition. The veteran lined a double down the right field line in his first AB, then made a nice sliding grab in the right-center gap to rob Nasim Nuñez of extra bases in the fifth.

- Ronny Mauricio showed good instincts at shortstop, cleanly fielding a grounder while playing in with a man on third and nobody out, then throwing home to gun down a runner trying to score. Mauricio worked deep counts in each of his two at-bats, but struck out each time.

- Tobias Myers was strong in his second outing, his first start, of the spring. The righty struck out three as he retired six of the first seven batters he faced, only issuing a two-out walk in the second. He did fall into some trouble after back-to-back hits put two in scoring position in the third, but was able to escape with one run in on a groundout.

His final line: one run, two hits, one walk, four strikeouts and 46 pitches (34 strikes) over 3.0 innings of work.

- Craig Kimbrel made his first appearance in his attempt to carve out a role in the Mets' bullpen. Bo Bichette was beat for a double down the line on the second pitch Kimbrel threw, then a groundout and flyout to bring home the Nats' second run of the game. The veteran walked the next two, but escaped without further damage.

- Luis Garcia put together his second consecutive 1-2-3 inning to start the spring.

- Hitless on the spring, Mark Vientos was finally able to break through in his third at-bat of the day, going the other way for an RBI double off the right field fence. Vientos is among the contingent of Mets who will be leaving the team on Sunday to start preparing for the World Baseball Classic.

- Among those players is outfield prospect Nick Morabito, who has been enjoying a very strong camp so far. Morabito fought off a tough 0-2 pitch, then went the other way against former Mets southpaw Dicky Lovelady, lining an opposite-field double to help cut the deficit in the bottom of the eighth.

- The Mets threatened in the ninth, but stranded the winning run on second on Jacob Reimer's flyout.

Here are some takeaways...

Highlights

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