Marcus Stroman's Citi Field debut got off to an electric start.

Trea Turner led off the game for the Nats with an infield single, a ball that newly acquired Joe Panik probably could have made before Pete Alonso took a diving stab at it.

After that leadoff hit though, the Medford, N.Y. native began dealing. He struck out Anthony Rendon looking and Juan Soto swinging to end the first inning. He then picked up right where he left off in the second, striking out the side.

He picked up two more strikeouts in the third, matching his season high with seven strikeouts in just three innings.

But the Nationals jumped on him in the fourth. After Adam Eaton led off with a single, Rendon tripled him home, as Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil collided in right-center. The next hitter, Soto, launched a two-run homer in to the bullpen, giving the Nats a 3-0 lead.

The Mets answered back though, tying the game 3-3 on back-to-back homers from Alonso and JD Davis. Stroman then delivered a shutdown inning in the fifth, striking out Rendon to record his eighth strikeout, the most he's had in a game this season.

Stroman got into trouble in the sixth, allowing a Soto double and Matt Adams single to give the Nats first-and-third with nobody out. But after Kurt Suzuki grounded into a fielder's choice, forcing a rundown between third and home and saving a run, the Nats still had runners at second and third with one away. Stroman buckled down, getting Brian Dozier to line out to short, and after an intentional walk, Stroman stuck out Stephen Strasburg with the bases loaded to keep the game tied.

With 102 pitches through six innings, Stroman went back out to take the mound to start the seventh. He issued a walk to Turner on a 3-2 pitch, ending his night. He threw 108 pitches, striking out a season-best nine batters. He allowed four earned runs, the fourth an inherited runner that scored when Rendon hit a two-run homer of Justin Wilson to give the Nats a 5-3 lead.

The Mets, though, would come back with four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, saving Stroman from the loss.

The right-hander said after the game that he was very appreciative of the Citi Field crowd.

"It was amazing, man. That was playoff atmosphere from the second I walked out there," Stroman said. "The crowd brought it. I'm extremely thankful to have their presence there, their energy.

"I don't think they realize how much we kind of feed off that and how that kind of gets us going and allows us to elevate our game when we need to. So huge shout to that New York crowd."

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