After losing a two-run lead in the ninth inning, the Mets came back with a four-spot in the 10th, highlighted by a two-run double by Kevin Pillar, to down the Nats, 6-2, Friday night in Washington.
Pete Alonso poked an RBI single leading off the 10th inning to put the Mets ahead. Javier Baez followed with a shot in the right field corner that Juan Soto caught while banging into the wall. Alonso tagged up and went to second on the play. Because of that advance, the Nationals walked Michael Conforto. Pillar made them pay with a bullet down the left field line. He would score the game’s final run on an RBI single by Jonathan Villar, the fourth hit of the night for the Mets’ leadoff hitter.
The game went into extra innings because Edwin Diaz couldn’t close out a two-run lead. He gave up a leadoff homer to Soto that cut the lead in half and he gave up a tying hit on a ball that Brandon Nimmo dove to catch but came up short. Conforto backed up the play and got the ball back in time to the infield. Baez made a nice pickup of a short throw and fired home but his throw bounced, too. Catcher Chace Sisco had the ball in his glove but the runner banged into his shoulder and the ball came free, allowing him to score. Sisco had to leave the game after the collision.
The blown save in the ninth kept Rich Hill from a win. Hill pitched his best game as a Met, going six shutout innings. The key to his success was being able to retire Soto three times.
The Mets used power to score their first two runs, too. Baez doubled and scored on a hit by Conforto in the second inning. In the third, Pete Alonso hit an RBI triple, driving home Nimmo. Neither extra-base hit was particularly hard hit. Instead, they were hit in the right spot, both just out of the reach of Soto.
The win got the Mets back to .500 on the season. Next up is a doubleheader where the Mets look to extend their five/six-game winning streak.