The Nationals put themselves behind the eight ball right out of the gates in last night’s game, as the Mets got out to an early 5-0 lead in the second inning. With the all-world pitcher on the mound against them in Nolan McLean, things seemed bleak until James Wood came up to bat in the bottom of the second inning with the bases loaded. All he did was hit a ball off the wall in left field and run all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park grand slam, just your everyday occurrence, right? The Nats got a homer from Jose Tena, some big contributions from other hitters, and a lights-out job by the pitching staff over the final seven innings en route to a win on Tuesday night to even this four-game series up at a game apiece.

The Action

Things did not get off to a promising start for Foster Griffin, fresh off allowing nine runs in his last start. The game began with CJ Abrams misplaying a grounder hit softly up the middle, and the Nationals paid for it on the very next pitch, as Bo Bichette launched a first-pitch sinker 406-feet out to center field to make it 2-0. The hit parade continued after that, with a Juan Soto single and a Mark Vientos double, setting the table for Marcus Semien, who added to the lead with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

The Mets’ offense got right back to it in the top of the second after a scoreless first inning from the Washington offense. The part that stings is that Foster Griffin got the first two hitters out and then allowed a single to Carson Benge, before Bo Bichette came up again and did just what he did the inning before, his second two-run homer in as many innings, this one making it 5-0 New York.

The bottom of the second inning did not begin well for the Nats, making what they ended up doing that much more impressive. After two quick outs, including a pop-up by Dylan Crews in his first big league at-bat of the season, Jorbit Vivas kept the inning alive with a double, Drew Millas was hit by a pitch, and Nasim Nunez singled to load the bases for James Wood. In shades of 2017 Michael A. Taylor, James Wood shot a fly ball off the fence in left, well past the two outfielders that had converged trying to make the play, and made it all the way around the bases safely for the Nats’ first inside-the-park grand slam since Taylor’s in 2017. More importantly, that brought the Nationals right back into the game, as the deficit was cut to 5-4.

That seemed to be just the boost that Foster Griffin needed, as he went into innings-eating mode after the second inning, and ended up throwing three scoreless frames to get the Nats through five and put himself in line for the win, a great finish to what looked like it could have been another rough outing.

But in order for Griffin to be in line for the win, the Nationals would have to have taken the lead while he was in. That happened in the bottom of the third as the Nats continued to jump all over McLean, handing him his first truly rough outing as a major leaguer. Jose Tena led off the inning with a screaming line drive to left field that made it over the wall for Tena’s ninth extra-base hit of the month of May, and his third homer of the season, tying this game up at five. A walk and a single after that put CJ Abrams at third, and a passed ball would be all he needed to come in and put the Nationals ahead 6-5. That lead would extend to 7-5 on a Jorbit Vivas sacrifice fly later in the inning, in what was a very quick and unprecedented turn of events after the Mets got off to a flying start in this game.

Foster Griffin gave us the first 1-2-3 inning of the night in the top half of the fourth, and the offense got right back to work in the bottom of the fourth. Some rough fielding by New York on back-to-back plays handed the Nationals a couple of runs, as CJ Abrams grounded one to short, where Bo Bichette launched a throw to the plate that was well off the mark, allowing not just James Wood to score, but Jose Tena came around as well on the error, inflating the Washington lead to 9-5. Also notably in this inning, Dylan Crews registered his first major league hit of 2026, an infield single to third.

Both starters turned in scoreless fifth innings, keeping the score at 9-5, and credit to both guys, as the job they did of eating up innings after the high-scoring start to this game helped to save their respective bullpens after a Monday night that drained both pitching staffs.

• Nolan McLean: 5.2 innings, 8 hits, 9 runs (6 earned), 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 100 pitches
• Foster Griffin: 5 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs (5 earned), 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 97 pitches

Brad Lord came out of the bullpen and took over in the sixth, and the job he did last night deserves a serious shoutout. Lord covered three whole innings out of the bullpen, allowing just a solo homer to Juan Soto in the seventh inning, but in a game where the Nationals did not have much of their bullpen available to them, he did a hero’s job of bridging this game from Griffin to the end, while keeping the lead intact.

I’ll even give Daniel Duarte a shoutout; the Mets brought him in to relieve McLean with two outs in the sixth, and he threw the final 2.1 innings for them while allowing just a lone single to Nasim Nunez. The Nats brought Richard Lovelady on for the top of the ninth to try and get a save against the team that waived him earlier this year, an opportunity that I’m sure he relished. He made the most of his chance, needing just ten pitches to make it through a 1-2-3 ninth inning, finishing the game off with an emphatic strikeout of Carson Benge to complete what was an awesome win for Blake Butera‘s boys.

What’s Next?

The Mets and Nats will play the third game of this four-game set tonight at the familiar 6:45 start time. It’ll be a battle of Zack’s on the mound tonight, although one guy spells it ‘Zach.’ We’ve also got ourselves another major league debut on our hands tonight, as the Mets are calling up their 13th-ranked prospect, Zach Thornton to start tonight’s ballgame. Thornton is a 24-year-old lefty who began the year in Double-A, but was called up to Triple-A after posting a 3.60 ERA in 25 innings. In Triple-A this year, he’s thrown just 12 innings with a 2.25 ERA, so this may just be a spot start, but if he does well there is a spot in their rotation for him right now, as Clay Holmes just hit the IL. The Nationals will counter with Zack Littell (2-4, 6.10 ERA), who is coming off his first great outing with the Nats, throwing five scoreless innings last Friday night against the Orioles. The Nats have a golden opportunity to jump on a young guy tonight, and clinch themselves at least a split in this series, the offense just needs to stay hot.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

• 7-6 win last night at Worcester
• Andry Lara: 5 innings, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts (5.22 ERA)
• Clayton Beeter: 1 inning, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout (Rehab assignment)
• Erik Tolman: 1 inning, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout (3rd save, 5.74 ERA)
• Harry Ford: 1-5 (.202 BA, .580 OPS)
• Yohandy Morales: 3-5, double, home run (10), 2 RBIs (.358 BA, 1.056 OPS)
• Seaver King: 2-3, RBI (Triple-A debut)
• Robert Hassell III: 2-4, RBI (.252 BA, .662 OPS)
• Trey Lipscomb: 1-3, home run (8), 2 RBIs, walk (.227 BA, .739 OPS)
• Today: 6:05 game tonight at Worcester (Chandler Champlain pitching)

AA Harrisburg

• 8-4 loss yesterday versus Akron
• Shinnosuke Ogasawara: 6 innings, 2 hits, 0 earned runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts (2.63 ERA)
• Jared Simpson: 1 inning, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts (3.38 ERA)
• Cayden Wallace: 2-4 (.282 BA, .894 OPS)
• Marcus Brown: 1-2, home run (1), RBI (.208 BA, .644 OPS)
• Sam Petersen: 2-3, 2 home runs (7), 3 RBIs, walk (.234 BA, .827 OPS)
• Today: 6:30 game tonight versus Akron (Connor Van Scoyoc pitching)

High-A Wilmington

• 4-0 win last night versus Jersey Shore
• Yoel Tejada: 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts (4.19 ERA)
• Eiker Huizi: 1 inning, o hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts (4.96 ERA)
• Devin Fitz-Gerald: 1-3, walk, 2 RBIs (.308 BA, 1.067 OPS)
• Elijah Green: 2-3, double, walk (.200 BA, .694 OPS)
• Today: Doubleheader today beginning at 4:30 versus Jersey Shore (Isaac Lyon and Gavin Bruni scheduled to start)

Low-A Fredericksburg

• 3-1 win yesterday at Fayetteville
• Carson Fischer: 3.2 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts (1.80 ERA)
• Levi Huesman: 2.1 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts (4.40 ERA)
• Julian Tonghini: 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts (0.96 ERA)
• Cesar Rojas: 1 inning, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts (3rd save, 4.60 ERA)
• Gavin Fien: 1-4, double, RBI (.167 BA, .619 OPS)
• Luke Dickerson: 2 walks
• Coy James: 2 walks
• Dashyll Tejeda: 1-3, double, walk
• Today: 6:35 game tonight at Fayetteville (Pitcher TBA)