Final score: Mets 6, Nationals 2—Mets blow it in the ninth, blow up in the tenth

Rich Hill had the Mets cruising towards a win before the Nationals tied the game in the ninth, but a breakout inning in the tenth secured the Mets a 6-2 win against the Nationals Friday night in D.C.

With one out in the top of the second, Javy Báez sent a bloop single into right field and took second base as Juan Soto took a while getting to the ball. Michael Conforto drove him in with an RBI single up the middle that ricocheted off starting pitcher Sean Nolin’s shoulder and provided the Mets with their first run of the game.

In the top of the third, Brandon Nimmo reached via a walk, and with two outs Pete Alonso sent a high fly ball to right field. But with Soto playing deep in right-center, no one was able to get to the ball before it fell in fair territory, and Nimmo was able to score from first with Alonso reaching third with an RBI triple.

Hill threw six scoreless innings, and more impressively shut down Juan Soto completely in three plate appearances, inducing no more than soft contact from arguably the best hitter in the world. Seth Lugo and Aaron Loup shut down the Nationals in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, allowing the Mets to enter the bottom of the ninth with a 2-0 lead.

And then everything unraveled. A Juan Soto home run and an RBI double from Riley Adams in the bottom of the ninth off of Edwin Díaz erased Hill’s gem, with pitch runner Andrew Stevenson knocking out Mets starting catcher Chance Sisco with a collision at the plate to score the tying run. After blowing the save, Díaz struck out Carter Kieboom and forced a Luis García groundout to send the game into extra innings.

On the very first opportunity in the 10th inning, Alonso golfed a base hit into center field to score the free runner Francisco Lindor from second base to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. With one out and runners on first and second, Kevin Pillar drove both in with an RBI double to left field, giving the Mets a 5-2 lead. A Jonathan Villar RBI double gave him his fourth hit of the night and the Mets a 6-2 lead, which was all Jeurys Familia needed to finish the game in the bottom frame.

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