Matt Adams tagged up on a double to left-center. Trea Turner turned an inning-ending double-play grounder into a five-run ninth for the Mets.
Such was the night for the Washington Nationals in a 10-4 10-5 10-6 10-8 loss to the New York Mets.
(Editor’s Note: The Nats rallied to win with seven in the ninth to win, 11-10. The ninth-inning comeback was the biggest in Nats’ history.)
Max Scherzer threw three hitless innings before getting touched for four runs in the fourth, the big blow a two-run homer by Joe Panik that put New York up 4-1.
The Nats drew to 4-2 on a one-out, sixth-inning single by Kurt Suzuki, but that was the play that Adams inexplicably tagged up on as the ball bounded off the wall in left-center.
Gerardo Parra, the next hitter, hit a grounder up the middle that turned into a double play because the runners hadn’t advanced to second and third, as you would have expected on a ball that hits the wall in left-center, ending the threat.
Jeff McNeil homered off Roenis Elias in the top of the eighth to extend the lead to 5-2. A two-run Juan Soto shot in the bottom half of the inning cut the margin to a run.
Then Elias gave up another solo shot, to Brandon Nimmo, leading off the ninth, and with one out and runners on first and second, reliever Daniel Hudson induced what appeared to be an easy inning-ending double-play grounder off the bat of catcher Tomas Nido.
Only, Turner thought there were two outs in the inning, and threw to first for what was just the second out.
McNeil followed with a two-run single on an 0-2 pitch from Hudson to make it 8-4. Pete Alonso skulled a ball into the seats in left-center one batter later to put the game seemingly out of reach at 10-4.
The Nats made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, scoring on an RBI double by Turner, an RBI single by Anthony Rendon, and a two-run double by Ryan Zimmerman, before Mets closer Edwin Diaz struck out Suzuki on a 3-2 pitch and …
(Editor’s Note: Suzuki hit a three-run walk-off homer on that 3-2 pitch.)
Story by Chris Graham