Mets let six-run lead slip, blow save in 8-7 loss to Nationals

The Mets scored five runs in the top of the first and held a six-run lead for the seventh inning stretch, but a bullpen meltdown and second blown save of the series saw New York fall 8-7 to the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

New York opened the game 3-for-6 with RISP, but went 0-for-6 the rest of the game, including failing to score an insurance run in the top of the ninth despite having two on and nobody out. Washington added five runs in the seventh and two in the ninth to grab the win.

The Mets wasted a solid outing from Tylor Megill that saw the right-hander strike out nine and allow three runs over 6.1 innings.

Here are the takeaways…

– Ryne Stanek, with Edwin Diaz unavailable after pitching on Saturday, got the ninth to protect a one-run lead, but allowed a leadoff double to right by Alex Call on an 0-2 fastball. A grounder to second gave Stanek an out, but put the tying run at third for the top of the Nats order. With the infield in, CJ Abrams yanked a base hit past a diving Pete Alonso to tie the game.

Stanek, who blew a save on Friday, walked James Wood to put the go-ahead run at second. A slow tapper to first was fielded by Alonso, but as Stanek was late to the bag, the first baseman airmailed the throw way over the pitcher’s head to allow the winning run to score on the error.

– Megill, who had a lead before he threw a pitch, struck out Abrams on three fastballs as part of a quick first frame. The righty added a strikeout and two comebackers, but Dylan Crews continued his fine series with a homer to left in the second. Megill cruised from there, retiring 13 of the next 14 batters with six strikeouts to get him through six frames for the first time on the year.

Megill surrendered his second hit of the afternoon to start the seventh when a Luis Garcia pop fly for a double when Juan Soto lost the ball in a very bright Washington sun, which – along with a swirling wind – had been causing problems for fielders throughout the day. After a strikeout, Josh Bell‘s RBI single to center ended Megill’s day.

– José Butto entered with one on and one out in the seventh and got Crews swinging, but back-to-back singles plated the inherited runner. And after falling behind Riley Adams 3-1, the Nationals’ No. 9 hitter cranked a center-cut 95 mph fastball for a 405-foot three-run homer to the right of center to cut the Mets’ lead to one run.

– In the top half of the ninth, the Mets had a great chance to extend the lead and take pressure off the bullpen when Soto singled up the middle, Alonso got hit on the left elbow, and a wild pitch put two in scoring position. But, with the infield in, Mark Vientos and Starling Marte both grounded out to short, with Abrams making a diving stop on the first chance. Ex-Met Jorge Lopez entered and got Brandon Nimmo to ground out to second.

Nimmo had a chance in the seventh with two on and nobody out, but he bounced into a 6-4-3 double play. He finished 0-for-4 with an RBI and the team went 3-for-12 with RISP.

– The Mets got something cooking right away as Francisco Lindor grabbed an infield single on a slow roller to third and Soto and Alonso worked walks to load the bases against Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker. 

Vientos – just 3-for-26 this year with RISP – attacked a first-pitch fastball for a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right. Marte walked to re-load the bases, setting up Nimmo to punch a sac fly to center. 

Luis Torrens came through with a base hit up the middle that scored Alonso from second, and the throw to third got past Jose Tena to allow Marte to score and put Torrens on third on the error. Luisangel Acuña kept things going by smacking a splitter the other way for an RBI single, and Tyrone Taylor walked before the inning closed on Parker’s 43rd pitch of the afternoon.

In all, 10 Mets went to the plate, scoring five runs on three hits and four walks. And in retrospect, trading the outs for the runs on the sacrifice flies came back to haunt them.

– Soto opened the second by smacking a ball past the second baseman (113 mph off the bat) and hustling into second with a double, and Alonso followed with an infield hit to short. But the Mets only added one more run as Vientos popped out to the second baseman Garcia, who hung on despite right fielder Call taking out his legs, and Marte beat out the double-play on a slow roller to short.

– Torrens added another RBI with a two-out double into the right field corner in the fifth as Marte hustled all the way around for first and, beating the tag with a great slide at the plate as the relay throw was on target for a 7-1 lead. 

Torrens (2-for-4 with two RBI), Vientos (2-for-4 with an RBI), and Soto (2-for-3 with two walks) were the only players with multi-hit days.

– The eighth inning was hairy, but Huascar Brazobán was the lone reliever to not allow a run. A 1-2 changeup got the middle of the plate and Wood hooked it into right for a double to start the inning. The reliever induced a tapper just in front of the plate to get the first out, but walked Nathaniel Lowe to put the go-ahead run at first base.

Brazobán got Bell swinging on three pitches (including a nasty changeup that ran right off the plate) for the second out, but plunked Crews to load the bases. A soft liner caught by Vientos ended the adventurous (and scoreless) frame.

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets look to earn a series split in Washington on Monday with a late-afternoon first pitch of 4:05 p.m.

Right-hander Griffin Canning (3.12 ERA, 1.385 WHIP in 26 innings) against righty Trevor Williams (5.11 ERA, 1.581 WHIP in 24.2 innings) is the scheduled pitching matchup.

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