One night of drama wasn’t enough for the two teams. After a 16-7 win over the Nationals in which the Mets scored 10 runs in the 12th inning on Monday night, it was another wild one in Washington on Tuesday.
On the mound, it was the righty Nolan McLean (2-2, 3.57 ERA) for the Mets against lefty Foster Griffin (4-2, 4.02 ERA) for the Nationals.
Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images
It was a lopsided roller coaster of emotions for the Mets.
A night after a three-hit performance on Monday and telling The Athletic, “Just wanting to be the player the Mets signed is something that I think about a lot,” Bo Bichette remained locked in at the plate on Tuesday. He hit two-run home runs in both the first and second innings to finally contribute offensively like he’s wanted to. He went on to have a 2-for-4 night with four RBIs and two runs scored, driving in four of the Mets’ six runs on the day.
However, the Mets fell 9-6 to the Nationals.
After Carson Benge led off the inning in the first with a single, Bichette drove him in to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. He was followed by a single from Juan Soto, double by Mark Vientos and sac fly from Marcus Semien that extended the Mets’ lead to 3-0 over Washington.
Bichette’s hot streak continued in the second, the same way it did in the first. Benge hit a two-out single that was followed by a second two-run home run by Bichette that gave the Mets a 5-0 lead.
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But that emotional roller coaster I mentioned? While Bichette is finally coming to life, his positive performance was overshadowed by what was McLean’s worst outing of his career. He gave up nine runs (six earned, three unearned runs on errors) on eight hits, including two home runs, walked two and struck out five.
McLean could not find his command, and the Nationals had his number on Tuesday. He gave up four runs in the second, three in the third, and two in the fourth to give the Nationals a 9-6 lead through five.
The four runs McLean gave up in the second were courtesy of an inside-the-park grand slam on a fly ball to center field by James Wood. That was the first blow for McLean and the Mets.
The blows continued in the fourth as the Mets handed the Nationals more runs. They had a chance to get out of the inning with less damage done, but errors by Marcus Semien and Luis Torrens kept the inning alive, allowing the Nationals to take their large lead.
It looked like McLean might finally have been settling in in the fifth, retiring the Nationals in order and then striking out two in the sixth. But with two outs, he hit CJ Abrams and after 100 pitches, Carlos Mendoza had seen enough. He went to his bullpen, bringing in Daniel Duarte to make his Mets debut.
The Mets gained a run back in the top of the seventh. Soto hit his seventh home run of the year to make it a 9-6 game.
Duarte had a strong performance on the mound in his Mets debut. He pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings, giving up just one hit and striking out one.
After Soto’s home run, the Mets were unable to produce again as the Nationals went on to take game two 9-6, handing the Mets their first loss in a game in which they led by five or more innings.
Players of the Game
Though the Mets came away with the loss, Bichette and Benge were the co-players of the game. Benge was 3-for-5 on the day with two runs scored, and Bichette was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored on two home runs.
On Deck
The Mets and Nationals continue their four-game series on Wednesday. Zack Thornton will make his MLB debut for the Mets. They will take on right-handed pitcher Zack Littell (2-4, 6.10 ERA).
