MLB

Washington Nationals at New York Mets

· Major League Baseball
Washington Nationals
68-83, 32-44 Away
Final
1 - 10
New York Mets
83-68, 42-34 Home

Alonso and Acuña power Mets past Nationals 10-1 to increase wild card lead

Tylor Megill (4-5) provided another terrific outing in place of injured starter Paul Blackburn, and Francisco Alvarez also went deep as the Mets improved to 10-2 against Washington this year.

New York is tied with Arizona for the second of three NL wild cards, two games ahead of rival Atlanta for the league’s last postseason berth with 11 to play.

“I’m just really fired up because of the situation we’ve put ourselves in,” Alonso said, explaining his passionate address to teammates during a meeting Monday in the wake of Francisco Lindor’s injury last weekend. “We control our own destiny.”

A roar went up in the crowd of 24,932 at Citi Field when the out-of-town scoreboard showed Cincinnati had polished off a 6-5 comeback victory over the Braves.

“I didn’t know," Alonso said. "So someone told me that’s what they were cheering about, but I thought someone was just getting rowdy like, chugging beers or something like that. I mean, people do that.”

Jose Iglesias had three of New York's 14 hits and scored twice, batting leadoff with Lindor sidelined by a sore back. The 22-year-old Acuña, subbing for the MVP contender at shortstop, finished a triple shy of the cycle and scored three times from the No. 9 spot in his fourth big league game and second start.

“He's a true pro so far and that's awesome to see,” Alonso said.

Acuña, younger sibling of Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., knocked in New York's first run with a double for his first career extra-base hit. He connected for a solo homer in the eighth to finish with his first two RBI.

“That confidence comes from my brother,” the younger Acuña said through a translator.

He received a congratulatory text message from his big brother, and plans to put the souvenir ball from his first home run in a trophy case in the new house he's building.

“Excited. Proud of myself,” Acuña said. “I think this is something that I earned.”

Alonso also was a triple short of the cycle. He blooped a two-run single off shaky starter Mitchell Parker (7-10) with the bases loaded in a four-run third inning, then launched a three-run homer in the sixth.

Iglesias is batting .425 during an 11-game hitting streak.

Acuña's first career error helped the Nationals score an unearned run in the third, but Megill recovered. He permitted just two hits in six innings and retired his final 10 batters — after striking out nine over six shutout innings of one-hit ball at Toronto last time out on Sept. 9.

“We just couldn’t catch up to a fastball,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “The guy was throwing fastballs, and we were late. Bad combination.”

Touted rookie Dylan Crews had three of Washington's four hits.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams (left shoulder) was back in the leadoff spot after missing four games. ... 2B Luis García Jr. exited in the fourth with a sore right wrist. ... RHP Trevor Williams (flexor muscle strain) threw a bullpen and could be reinstated from his minor league rehab assignment to start this weekend in Chicago against the Cubs. ... OF Alex Call (partial tear of plantar fascia) has been taking flyballs at Citi Field. “If everything goes well, we might possibly send him out on a quick rehab,” Martinez said. “I know we're running out of time here, but I would like to get him back and get him in some games.”

Mets: Lindor was feeling better, manager Carlos Mendoza said, and still hopes to return this week. ... RHP Kodai Senga (left calf strain) threw another bullpen and went through some fielding drills. The team will wait to see how he feels Wednesday before announcing whether Senga's next step will be live batting practice, a minor league rehab game or another bullpen session. Senga hopes to come off the 60-day injured list next week — he becomes eligible on Sept. 25 — to provide even a few innings before the regular season ends. ... OF Brandon Nimmo was rested against the left-hander.

UP NEXT

Mets LHP Jose Quintana (9-9, 3.91 ERA) makes his 30th start of the season when he faces left-hander DJ Herz (4-7, 3.70) in the series finale Wednesday night.

Quintana has allowed one earned run in 25 innings over his last four starts, winning the past three. He threw 14 shutout innings in back-to-back starts against Washington in early July.

How can I watch Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets?
  • TV Channel: Nationals at Mets 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Mets: 60.5%
Nationals: 39.5%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Young flied out to center.
9th Inning Gallo struck out swinging.
9th Inning Crews singled to left.
9th Inning Ruiz fouled out to catcher.
9th Inning A. Young relieved Brazoban
8th Inning Vientos grounded into fielder's choice to first, Marte out at second.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/nym.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYM
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 0
12 Ground Balls 12
7 Strikeouts 6
1 Runs Batted In 10
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
4 Hits 14
0 Stolen Bases 1
3 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
1 Runs 10
0 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 1
32 At Bats 36
0 Home Runs 3
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
16 Runners Left On Base 16
0 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 3
13 Fly Balls 19
0 Caught Stealing 0
145 Pitches 153
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 1
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 1
5 Total Bases 26
36 Plate Appearances 40
0.0 Projected Home Runs 486.0
1 Extra Base Hits 6
0.8 Runs Created 10.0
.125 Batting Average .389
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.156 Slugging Percentage .722
.125 Secondary Average .444
.222 On Base Percentage .425
.378 OBP Pct + SLG Pct 1.147
0.9 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.6
0.7 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 11.2
10.0 Batter Rating 70.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 12.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
4.03 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.83
.031 Isolated Power .333
0.43 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.50
.083 Walks Per Plate Appearance .075
.000 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .056
2.0 Runs Produced 20.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.3 Patience Ratio 0.8
0.2 Balls In Play Average 0.4
62.3 MLB Rating 113.3
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Citi Field

Location: Queens, New York
Attendance: 24,932 | Capacity:

2024 National League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Philadelphia 95 67 .586 - W1
Atlanta 89 73 .549 6 W1
New York 89 73 .549 6 L1
Washington 71 91 .438 24 L1
Miami 62 100 .383 33 W4
Full Standings