QUEENS, NY — Jeff McNeil hit a double on the first pitch from Nationals reliever Cole Henry in the 10th inning, scoring ghost runner Luisangel Acuna, and secured the Mets a 5-4 comeback victory over Washington on Tuesday night at Citi Field, marking their fourth consecutive win.
McNeil, who is batting .341 with four home runs and nine RBI in his last 11 games, had a notable two-RBI night. Known for hitting the first pitch, the left-handed batter connected with a 94 mph fastball low in the zone and sent it to right field.
“I was just looking for anything I could hit to the right side,” McNeil commented. “I wasn’t trying to do too much. I felt like they were trying to go hard and away, so I was kind of cheating for something out there and trying to hook the ball to the right side. It got down.”
The Mets (43-24) overcame a two-run deficit in the bottom of the eighth, tying the game at four with a two-out rally against Nationals reliever Jose Ferrer and closer Kyle Finnegan.
Starling Marte drew an eight-pitch walk, and Juan Soto reduced the deficit to one by hitting a 107.3 mph shot to right field off Ferrer, which eluded a diving Robert Hassell, allowing Marte to score from first.
“That’s a 12-year veteran taking an at-bat right there,” Soto said of Marte’s walk before discussing his own at-bat. “I just tried to hone in on the mistakes. I know [Ferrer] has nasty stuff. I’m just trying to stay locked in my zone… How things are going, I was definitely hoping [that liner] would get down. It did, and I’m real glad… I got it done.”
Soto went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, and two RBI for the night.
Pete Alonso followed with a line drive single off the left-field wall off Finnegan, but was thrown out attempting to stretch it to a double, though not before the run scored.
Mets reliever Reed Garrett stranded the Nationals’ ghost runner on third in the 10th, managing to get James Wood to ground out, Nathaniel Lowe to strike out, and Andres Chaparro to fly out.
A couple of Nationals acquisitions from the 2022 trade, which sent Juan Soto from Washington to the San Diego Padres, nearly derailed the Mets. Pitcher MacKenzie Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams played critical roles.
Abrams went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, and two RBI. Gore allowed just two runs on five hits in six innings with six strikeouts and no walks.
All four of the Nationals’ runs came off Mets starter Griffin Canning, who has been struggling recently. He allowed seven hits, four strikeouts, and two walks in 5.1 innings and has a 4.84 ERA over his last five starts after starting with a 2.36 ERA in his first eight appearances.
Washington scored three in the first two innings, beginning with Lowe hitting his ninth home run of the season deep to right field. Abrams doubled home Alex Call with two outs in the second. Jose Tena attempted to score from first on Abrams’ line drive to right, but was thrown out at the plate by Soto.
McNeil brought one back for the Mets in the second, hitting a two-out bloop single into right, scoring Brandon Nimmo, who had singled and stolen second. McNeil’s career mark against Gore improved to 8-for-11.
Soto brought the Mets within one in the third, hitting a 2-2 Gore slider over the left-field wall for his 12th home run of the season. After fouling off two fastballs, Soto capitalized on the offspeed pitch up in the zone.
“I’m waiting for mistakes,” Soto said. “He made a mistake and I put the ball in play.”
He seemed to exchange words with the Nationals’ starter as he rounded the bases.
“We were just saying hi to each other,” Soto joked.
“[Gore] got him the first at-bat, and then Soto took him deep,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza commented. “Maybe they stared at each other. The next time, he got him out on one pitch. I thought they both handled it the way they should’ve handled it.”
Abrams restored Washington’s two-run lead with a ninth home run just over the left-field fence in the fifth.
“[Alonso] kinda came by me and said they were going to pick me up, and that sort of says it all right there,” Canning said about his tough night. “It doesn’t feel good to go out and put us in a hole right away. Just to know that they had my back and were going to grind
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