AMAZIN’S AVOID A DISASTER
Lindor lifts Mets after they cough up 9-run lead; Nats take nightcap
METS 11 NATIONALS 9 NATIONALS 4 METS 3
Francisco Lindor rescued the Mets from what would have been an Amazin’ choke job.
Lindor smacked a two-run homer in the second extra frame to beat the Nationals 11-9 in the opening game of a day-night doubleheader and avoid what would have been the greatest collapse in franchise history.
“A long one,” a relieved Lindor said after the fourhour marathon, “but very rewarding. A lot of the guys got a lot of hits, which always makes it fun.”
The Mets blew a nine-run lead against a Nats team that had tossed in the towel long ago this season. The Mets had never blown a nine-run lead and lost. Ever. Lindor made sure this one didn’t end in a horrifying L for a team that needs every win it can get.
“There wasn’t too much relief because we still need to close out the last inning,” he added.
After Lindor’s heroics, Heath Hembree closed the door in the ninth to end the drama. Trevor May escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to get the win.
Andrew Stevenson’s two-run homer off Seth Lugo in the bottom of the seventh had sent this wild affair to extra innings.
Luis Rojas had handed a 9-3 lead to his bullpen in the sixth inning and that’s when these Mets turned back into the Mess.
The Nats plated four runs against relievers Miguel Castro and Brad Hand to cut the deficit to two. Three errors didn’t help, including one by Lindor. Hand, who the Mets picked up off waivers from the Blue Jays on Thursday, gave up two straight hits in his debut after Castro couldn’t get the job done. But the lefty got Ryan Zimmerman to hit into an inning-ending double play to temporarily stop the bleeding.
“A little bit frustrated with my error, that led to a big inning,” Lindor said. “I’m defense first and I wasn’t pleased with that one. Thank God with the group of guys we have they picked me up and gave us a chance to win.”
But Washington wasn’t ready to move on to the second game of the twinbill just yet. After Carter Kieboom hit a ground-rule double off Lugo in the seventh, Stevenson stepped up and parked a two-run homer in the stands to send the game into extras.
Even though it was a bit of a horror show, the Mets continued to pile up wins against the dregs of the NL East. After going 2-11 against the Dodgers and Giants — and seemingly blowing any shot of playing into October in the process — the Mets have now won six straight (seven if you include Tuesday’s win over the Marlins in the suspended game) and find themselves still very much in the conversation for both the division crown and the wild card.
And after Saturday, they still have five more games against the Nationals and Marlins on this road trip.
This one appeared over before most fans even had a chance to get the mustard on their hot dogs in our nation’s capital. Three straight hits to open the game — Jonathan Villar, Brandon Nimmo and Lindor — led to a quick 2-0 lead. Four more runs were added in the second, highlighted by Javy Baez’s 406-foot shot to center to lead off the inning.
Nationals skipper Davey Martinez — who underwent a minor foot procedure earlier in the week — hobbled off on crutches after being tossed early on for arguing balls and strikes. It was that kind of start to the day for the home team.
Marcus Stroman, who didn’t need his best stuff to keep these Nats at bay early on, added to his defensive highlight reel in the third inning when he teamed up with Baez to nab Juan Soto trying to take an unoccupied third base. He ran into problems in the fourth, but by that point he had nine runs to work with.
The game not only cost the Mets a few blood pressure points, but the team lost Nimmo to injury. He was forced out of the game in the second inning with right hamstring tightness suffered while running the bases. He was placed on the IL after the game.
After all that ruckus Friday night into Saturday afternoon, the Mets went down quietly in the late game. Rookie starter Tylor Megill was solid through four innings, giving up just two runs, but sprang a leak in the fifth on a two-run home run by Alcides Escobar. Megill went six innings with a career-high eight strikeouts, one walk and the four earned runs.
It was a similar outing for the Nationals’ Josh Rogers, making his first start since having Tommy John surgery in 2019. He gave up a walk and two hits before recording an out in the first inning, but after scoring an early run, the Mets stranded two runners, and Rogers was clean until a Kevin Pillar home run brought the Mets to within 4-3 in the sixth. The Mets put a runner on second in the seventh, but Alonso struck out to end it.