It may have lacked the pure drama of Friday’s game, when the New York Mets (61-56) scored four in the bottom of the ninth to stun the Washington Nationals, 7-6, but you couldn’t tell by the decibel level at Citi Field. The echos of victory are still reverberating through Flushing as the Mets came back twice to beat Washington, 4-3, to take the first two games of the series. (box score)

For the second consecutive night, the Nationals jumped out to an early lead, only to have the Mets come back and tie the game. Then in the eighth, the Nats retook the lead only to have the Mets respond by scoring twice in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good. And as befits a team on a major run, an unlikely hero, who was nearly released, helped save the day.

New York has now won eight in a row, 15 of their last 16 and are 21-6 since the All-Star break. The 21-6 mark is the best in the Majors in the second half. They are only .5 games behind Washington (61-55) for the top wild-card spot. The Mets and Jacob deGrom will go for their second sweep of the  Nationals this year on Sunday afternoon.

Pitching

Noah Syndergaard made his 23rd start of the year Saturday against the Nationals. He sports a 4-6 lifetime record against his division foes with a 3.47 ERA. He is 1-1 in three starts against Washington this year.

Syndergaard had a difficult first inning, throwing 29 pitches and giving up two runs. With one out, he gave up a walk to Adam Eaton. He retired Anthony Rendon on a ground-out for the second out but then gave up three straight two-out hits. The big hit was a two-run homer by Juan Soto to give the Nats a 2-0 lead. It was Soto’s 23rd HR of the year, a career-high. More significantly, it was the first homer Syndergaard had given up in 38.1 innings.

Matt Adams and Asdrubal Cabrera each singled in the frame but a strikeout to Victor Robles limited the damage to just two runs.

In the second, Syndergaard worked around a single by Trea Turner. Turner stole second, his 25th steal of the year, but was stranded there as Eaton grounded out.

The Nationals threatened in the third as they put there first two runners aboard, on a single by Rendon and a walk to Soto. But a neat 4-4-3 double play started by Jeff McNeil help squash the threat and keep the game at 2-0.

Syndergaard retired the Nationals in order in the fourth and the fifth as he retired nine Nats in a row. That skein was broken in the sixth on a single by Adams. Washington was unable to bring him around as Syndergaard got Robles for the third time of the evening, on a pop-out.

Andrew Stevenson pinch hit for pitcher Patrick Corbin and singled in the seventh, the Nats seventh hit of the game. He was erased on a double play off the bat of Turner.

The seventh was Syndergarrd’s last of the evening. He has now thrown seven innings in a career-high six consecutive starts. He has a 1.91 ERA during this span. The six straight starts of seven innings is the longest active streak in the Majors. Noah’s final line was: 7 IP, 7H, 2R, 2BB, 5K, 97 pitches (66 strikes).

Seth Lugo came into the game in the eighth. It was the first time in five days he has pitched. Lugo retired the first two batters he faced, the 25th and 26th consecutive batters he’s retired. That tied a franchise record for consecutive batters retired by a Met reliever co-held by Bobby Parnell set in 2012. Lugo would not break the record. The next batter, Soto, launched a homer to deep right to give the Nats a 3-2 lead. It was the seventh home run Lugo as given up this year.

Mets manager Mickey Callaway gave Lugo a chance to redeem himself as he sent Lugo out for the ninth to try and get the win. He retired the Nationals in order to secure his fifth win of the year.

Offense

The Mets managed five hits against the Nationals on Saturday.

New York was facing Washington starter Patrick Corbin for the fifth time this year. Corbin started out strong, limiting the Mets to one hit, a single by Michael Conforto, over the first three innings.

The Mets got to Corbin in the fourth. After two were out, J.D. Davis hit a solo shot to left to cut the Nationals lead to 2-1. It was Davis’14th homer of the year and third against Corbin. The next batter, Wilson Ramos hit the very next pitch into the second deck in left. It was a ‘birthday bash’ for Ramos as Saturday was Wilson’s 32nd birthday. It was his 13th home run of the year and it tied the game at 2-2.

The back-to-back home runs by Davis and Ramos were the eighth straight game the Mets have hit multiple homers in a game. That broke the franchise record of seven straight which was also set this year (June 20-26). The Mets have hit 19 homers during the eight-game span.

The Mets, who had only three hits through seven innings, did not threaten at all until the eighth. Fernando Rodney came into pitch for Washington and proceeded to blow the save. It was the seventh time in fifteen games against the Mets that Washington’s bullpen has blown a save. Luis Guillorme, who nearly was let go by the Mets, came into pinch hit and blasted his first career home run to deep right to tie the score.

Nat’s manager Dave Martinez came int to get Rodney and replace him with Daniel Hudson. The Mets loaded the bases on an error and a base hit by McNeil, his first hit of the series. Pete Alonso was intentionally walked and J.D. Davis was next. Davis got behind on the count 0-2, but lifted a sacrifice fly to right to give the Mets their first lead of the game, 4-3. It was Davis’ 38th RBI of the year and second of the game. It proved to be the game-winning run.

On Deck

The Mets go for the sweep against the Nationals on Sunday in a matinee that begins at 1:10 PM. Jacob deGrom (7-7, 2.77 ERA) will start for New York. He’ll be making his third start of the year against Washington.

De Grom has pitched like his old self lately. Over his last 14 starts, Jacob has pitched to a 2.08 ERA with 115 strikeouts. He’s held opposing hitters to a .591 OPS over that stretch.

Anibal Sanchez (7-6, 3.67 ERA) will take the mound for the Nats. He will be pitching on four days rest as Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez shuffled his rotation to ensure Sanchez pitched in this series. He will be making his second start of the year versus the Mets. In his first start on May 16, Sanchez pitched only 1.1 innings before leaving with an injury. In his last 12 starts, he has posted a 2.82 ERA.

The game will be televised by SNY and broadcast on WCBS 880-AM.