Truly unbelievable.
With a seven run ninth inning, the Washington Nationals stunned the Mets in one of the most heartbreaking games you’ll ever see.
New York held a 10-4 lead going to last licks, but Washington pummeled the Mets bullpen and walked it off on a three-run Kurt Suzuki smash.
Pitching
Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom toed the rubber for New York on Tuesday evening and yielded just two runs through the first six innings.
In the eighth, Anthony Rendon led off the frame with a single and was promptly driven in on a two-run blast from Juan Soto, which made it a then 5-4 contest.
Seth Lugo came on to relieve deGrom and set down the next three hitters in order to end the frame.
The Mets answered back by hanging a five spot in the top of the ninth which staked them to a 10-4 lead. However, in the bottom of the inning, all hell broke loose.
Victor Robles singled to lead off the frame against Paul Sewald, which was followed by a Howie Kendrick fly out. Trea Turner then trimmed the deficit to 10-5 with an RBI double.
The next two batters, Rendon and former Met Asdrubal Cabrera singled in back-to-back at-bats to make it a 10-6 game.
Sewald was then yanked in favor of Luis Avilan, who faced just Soto before manager Mickey Callaway went to closer Edwin Diaz.
Longtime Nat Ryan Zimmerman drove in a pair with a double to make it 10-8 and put runners at second and third with just one out.
Catcher Kurt Suzuki then took Diaz deep, the 13th homer the right-hander has allowed this year, to give the Nationals an improbable and historic 11-10 victory.
Offense
It was looking bright for the Mets, who after falling behind 1-0 in the early frames answered back against Max Scherzer and the Nationals in the fourth to go up 4-1.
Wilson Ramos and Brandon Nimmo each chipped in RBI with a double and a sacrifice fly, respectively, then Yonkers native Joe Panik homered for his fourth of the year and first as a Met to plate two more.
In the eighth, up 4-2, Jeff McNeil hit a solo bomb, his second in as many days to give New York a 5-2 lead. Then in the ninth, the Mets looked to put the nail in the coffin as Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso homered to give New York a robust 10-4 lead.
You would have thought the Mets had the internal stamina to record three outs in the ninth after all but putting a nail in the coffin in the top half of the frame.
Unfortunately, the Nationals turned the tables and more or less put the nail in the coffin of the Mets season, with the latter falling five games out of the second wild card spot.
On Deck
The Mets will look to take the rubber game tomorrow in a YouTube exclusive matchup. Zack Wheeler (9-7, 4.41 ERA) will take on Anibal Sanchez (8-6, 3.80 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. EST.
