The Washington Nationals learned about the resiliency of the New York Mets during a series between the teams in April.
After losing two of the first three contests in that four-game set, the Mets routed the Nationals 19-5 in the finale.
On Tuesday, New York again showed it hasn’t gotten any easier to vanquish over the last six-plus weeks.
The Mets will look to build off a dramatic comeback victory and earn another series win on Wednesday night when they host the Nationals in the middle contest of a three-game series.
Left-hander David Peterson (4-2, 2.80 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against right-hander Jake Irvin (5-2, 4.02).
Jeff McNeil started and capped the Mets’ comeback Tuesday night. He had a run-scoring single in the second inning to overcome a 3-0 deficit before delivering a walk-off RBI single in the 10th of a 5-4 victory.
The Mets fell behind 2-0 before they stepped to the plate Tuesday and trailed 4-2 with two outs in the eighth inning with the bases empty and Starling Marte in an 0-2 hole against Jose Ferrer. But Marte worked a walk before Juan Soto ripped an RBI double and Pete Alonso laced an RBI single in a three-pitch span.
Each of the Mets’ first four runs were scored with two outs.
After Reed Garrett tossed a hitless 10th to strand automatic runner CJ Abrams, McNeil singled on the first pitch he saw from Cole Henry to score Luisangel Acuna and cap the Mets’ 18th comeback win of the season — including their fourth when trailing after seven innings.
The Mets have the best record in the National League at 43-24 and are 4-0-1 in their last five series.
“I think we’re just playing for each other,” said Mets pitcher Griffin Canning, who gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings on Tuesday. “After the first or second inning, Pete kind of came by me and said that they were going to pick me up. I think that kind of says it all right there.”
The Mets’ comeback spoiled a rare offensive outburst for the Nationals, who hadn’t scored more than three runs in any of their first seven games this month.
It also served as a reminder that four runs rarely will be enough against the Mets, who have outscored the Nationals 37-22 in five games this season.
On Tuesday, the Nationals were just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“Those guys got a good-hitting team,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “You can’t let them stay in the game or creep back in. They’re going to hurt you. We had some opportunities early to score some more runs. We left some guys on base.”
Peterson didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start last Thursday after allowing three runs over seven innings as the Mets fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5. He is 5-1 with a 3.07 ERA in 12 career games (nine starts) against the Nationals.
Irvin took the defeat last Thursday after giving up three runs over five innings in the Nationals’ 7-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. He is 1-2 with a 3.78 ERA in five starts against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
