The New York Mets (21-26) outlasted the Washington Nationals (23-25) 16-6 on Monday evening at Nationals Park, in a game that featured five lead changes, extra innings, and a ten-run twelfth inning that turned a nail-biter into a blowout. After winning six of their last seven, they also became the first NL team to score 10+ runs in an extra innings game since 1919!

(Box Score)

New York got on the board first in the second inning. A two-out single by Tyrone Taylor, aided by a pair of errors in right field, set up an RBI double by Luis Torrens to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Washington answered immediately in the home half of the inning. Despite retiring the first two batters of the frame, starter Christian Scott hit a batter, then surrendered an RBI double, a walk, and an RBI single to flip the lead to 2-1. The Nationals tacked on another run in the third on a single, a walk, and an RBI double to make it 3-1.

Scott finished his outing having allowed three runs on four hits over four innings, walking three and striking out five. His ERA on the season now stands at 4.12 through 19⅔ innings.

The Mets began clawing back in the fourth when Brett Baty launched a solo home run for his third of the year to cut the deficit to 3-2. New York regained the lead in the fifth after Torrens reached on an error, Carson Benge walked, and Juan Soto notched a two-run single to put the Mets in front 4-3. Austin Warren took the bump for the fifth and sixth, allowing just one baserunner via walk and striking out one in two clean frames.

Bo Bichette extended the lead to 5-3 with a solo home run in the seventh, his third of the season, ending a stretch of 71 at-bats without an extra-base hit, the longest such drought of his career.

But Washington wouldn’t go quietly. Brooks Raley entered in the seventh and ran into immediate trouble, giving up a leadoff double and back-to-back walks to load the bases. A sacrifice fly brought the Nationals within one at 5-4.

Then, Tobias Myers entered in relief with two on and one out, walked a batter to reload the bases, but escaped by striking out José Tena to strand them all. It was a gutsy effort… until the eighth. With two outs, Myers gave up a single and an RBI double to tie it up at 5-5.

Luke Weaver pitched a scoreless ninth, holding the line by stranding two baserunners to send the game to extras. In the tenth, the Mets failed to push across the automatic runner.

The Mets had nothing across in the 10th. Then Huascar Brazobán took the mound for the bottom half and escaped a two-out jam to send it to the 11th.

The Mets took a 6-5 lead in the top of the eleventh on a two-out sacrifice fly by Marcus Semien. But it didn’t hold. The Nats singled home the automatic runner in the bottom half to tie it at 6-6, and Brazobán once again escaped with men on second and third to force another inning.

Then came the twelfth. The Mets sent twelve batters to the plate and never looked back. An RBI single by Benge put New York ahead 7-6, and the floodgates opened from there. Bichette singled, Soto was intentionally walked, and Vidal Bruján delivered a bases-loaded squeeze RBI bunt single to make it 8-6. Baty followed with a two-run single for 10-6, Semien drove in another to make it 11-6, and A.J. Ewing added an RBI single for 12-6. Benge then doubled home two more for 14-6, and Bichette capped the inning with a two-run double to make it 16-6.

The triumph was final after the Nationals scored one more run in garbage time to make it 16-7. Brazobán took home the win (3-1, 1.85 ERA).

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Brett Baty takes home Monday’s honor, as he was at the center of the Mets’ comeback from the jump. His solo 451-foot home run (the second-longest homer of Baty’s career and by far the longest by a Met this year, per Anthony DiComo of MLB), in the fourth inning got New York off the mat trailing 3-1, and when the Mets needed to put the game away in the twelfth, Baty delivered again with a two-run single that pushed the lead to 10-6 and broke the game open for good.

ON DECK

Nolan McLean (2-2, 2.92 ERA) will get the start for New York on Tuesday. In his last outing vs. the Tigers, the starter allowed three runs on six hits over seven innings pitched, walking three and striking out seven.

Foster Griffin (4-2, 3.53 ERA) will take the mound for the Nationals. In his last time out against the Reds, he tossed four and 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs on seven hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

The first pitch is set for 6:45 PM ET on SNY.