Any reasonable chance the New York Mets had of making the playoffs disappeared months ago.
But a post-trade deadline surge might be providing a foundation for a return to contention next season — and delaying the development of the rival Washington Nationals, who are in the National League wild-card race but have lost four of their past five games.
The Mets will look to complete a series sweep Sunday afternoon, when they host the Nationals in the finale of the three-game set between National League East foes.
Christian Scott (3-3, 3.45 ERA) will start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Jake Irvin (2-6, 5.79).
The Mets mounted another comeback win Saturday when Francisco Lindor delivered a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning to lift New York to a 5-4 win.
The consecutive victories over the Nationals improved the Mets to 15-12 since the All-Star Break — including 8-3 since the Aug. 3 trade deadline, when last-place New York traded starting pitchers Clay Holmes and Freddy Peralta, relievers Huascar Brazoban, A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver, and reserve outfielder Tyrone Taylor.
While Lindor has played a key role in both wins over the Nationals — he hit the game-tying solo homer in the sixth inning Friday to spark the Mets’ comeback in a 4-1 victory — New York’s surge largely has been fueled by youngsters and minor league veterans getting their first extended big league opportunity.
Jared Young, in the midst of his first full season in the majors at age 31, homered Friday and had a two-run double for New York on Saturday. Rookie Carson Benge went deep Saturday to begin the Mets’ comeback from a 4-2 deficit.
Jefry Yan, pitching three days before his 30th birthday, retired all five batters he faced Saturday, when he became the second Mets rookie pitcher in as many nights to earn his first major league win. Jonathan Pintaro, 28, tossed two scoreless innings Friday.
“It’s been a tough year for everybody here,” Lindor said of the Mets, who are 55-69 and 11 games out of the NL wild-card race. “But they’re seeing that the year’s not done. We’ve got to play to win. There’s an expectancy to come here and play as hard as you can day-in and day-out and try to win. And that’s what they’re doing.”
The loss Saturday dropped the Nationals 6 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres, all of whom are tied for the final two wild-card spots. Washington, which has finished last in five of the six seasons since winning the 2019 World Series, is 4 1/2 games ahead of the Mets.
New York mounted its ninth-inning rally against Yovanny Cruz, whose struggles in his first save opportunity symbolized the troubles the Nationals have dealt with at the back of their bullpen.
Only five of the 11 pitchers who have a save this season for the Nationals were on Saturday’s active roster, and two of them — Andrew Alvarez and Brad Lord — are transitioning to the rotation. Lord recorded just two outs Saturday in his third start of the year. He was pulled after giving up two runs on one hit and four walks.
“At the end of the day, if we don’t get a chance to use you because we’ve lost the lead before then, then we’re not throwing our best relievers,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “But with that being said, we’ve got to find that next person to step up and be able to take the ball later in games as well.”
Scott, meanwhile, didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start last Monday night, when he allowed four runs over four innings in the Mets’ 8-5 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Irvin took the loss Tuesday after giving up five runs over 3 1/3 innings as the Nationals fell to the Chicago Cubs 8-6.
Scott is 0-0 with a 6.52 ERA in two career starts against the Nationals, while Irvin is 2-4 with a 4.70 ERA in nine starts against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
