Mets make history with back-to-back extra inning wins

The Mets rally back from a late deficit to defeat the Nationals, 7-2. Plus, how the club has flipped the script on their early-season woes in the extra frames.

USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets outlasted the Nationals by a 7-2 scored on Tuesday, playing in their third straight extra inning game (box)

• LHP Sean Manaea had one of his strongest performances of the season, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits over seven innings

• OF Brandon Nimmo, who did not start the game, hit a game-tying double in the 8th and an RBI double in the 10th as part of a 2-for-3 day off the bench

• Nimmo expanded his team lead with 51 RBI over their first 84 games

• 2B José Iglesias hit the game-winning RBI double to kick-off the scoring in the 10th inning, and is now hitting .388 since joining the club

• SS Francisco Lindor went 2-for-5 with a home run (14), a double and two runs scored

• 1B Pete Alonso clubbed his 18th home run of the season in the victory

• This is the first time since May 2014 that the Mets have played in three consecutive extra inning games

• With the win, the Mets are now 5-0 against the Nationals so far this season

• RHP Christian Scott will return from the minors to get the start against the Nationals tomorrow night

• No. 6 ranked prospect Brandon Sproat will represent the Mets in the MLB All-Star Futures Game this year

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Injury Updates 🏥

• DH J.D. Martínez was a late scratch from the lineup with left ankle soreness – the club is hoping he will only miss 1-2 games

• CF Harrison Bader exited Wednesday night’s game after colliding with the center field wall for precautionary reasons (neck, back) and is considered day-to-day

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Roster Moves 🗞️

• LHP Tyler Jay optioned to Triple-A Syracuse

• RHP José Buttó recalled from Triple-A Syracuse

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Who’s Hot 🔥

• Over the last eight games, Mark Vientos is hitting .355/.412/.806 with four home runs, two doubles, three walks, nine RBI and a 1.218 OPS

• RHP Dedniel Núñez has a 1.86 ERA with 22 strikeouts, three walks, four holds and two wins over his last 12 appearances

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• CF Alex Ramírez (No. 16 prospect, Double-A): 3-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, BB

• RHP Dom Hamel (No. 14 prospect, Triple-A): 4.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 5 K (loss)

• SS Jesus Baez (No. 22 prospect, High-A): 1-for-4, 2 RBI

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

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Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (42-41) at Nationals (39-46)

Where: Nationals Park — Washington, DC

Starters: RHP Christian Scott (0-2, 3.90 ERA) vs. LHP Mitchell Parker (5-4, 3.32 ERA)

When: 6:45 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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The Mets are suddenly kings of extra innings… ✍️

USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

At one point earlier this season, the 2024 Mets were one of the worst extra inning teams I had ever seen. And that’s not hyperbole – they really were.

As of May 28th, New York hadn’t scored a run in the 10th inning an unbelievable eight times this season. With the ghost runner rule still in effect, that would have seemed effectively impossible if I hadn’t watched it happen with my own eyes over the first few months of the season. For the team to experience such offensive ineptitude in clutch situations, even when being gifted a runner on second base with no outs, was nearly maddening to watch.

Prior to this week’s series starting in Washington, the Mets had a paltry record of 3-8 in extra inning games with their most recent loss coming in blowout fashion on Sunday to the Astros.

But sometimes in a long baseball season, a switch can suddenly flip. And for the Mets, it sure flipped in a major way…

After scoring just nine total runs in their first 11 extra inning games this season, the Mets have now scored 11 runs in extra innings over their last two games.

Even more incredibly, both games saw the Mets score five-plus runs in the 10th inning, a feat that the club has not accomplished in at least a half-century, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

The Mets are the first team since the 2021 Dbacks to score five-plus runs in an extra inning in back-to-back games, and are just the fourth team in baseball history to do so, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

Despite major bullpen issues that have played a major factor for this team in recent days, this Mets offense has suddenly found a way to come alive and pour it on in clutch moments over these last two nights. They’ve gotten clutch hits from practically everyone with J.D. Martínez, Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Álvarez, Pete Alonso, José Iglesias and Mark Vientos all driving home runs in extra innings in the last two days.

In their last two 10th innings, the Mets offense has hit .571/.600/1.571 with three home runs, three doubles, one triple, one hit-by-pitch, one stolen base and only one strikeout with 11 runs scored and a 2.172 OPS. That is beyond video game numbers.

For whatever the reason – maybe a new killer instinct, an adjusted approach, a subpar Nationals bullpen, or a simple but epic positive regression to the mean – the Mets have completely turned their 10th inning woes around in unbelievable fashion over these last two games. And if your team is struggling to lock down games late, than an elite offense is the best way to try and mitigate those problems (at least for now).

Amazing to think that only three days ago the Mets went 0-for-3 with the winning run on second base against the Astros in a tough loss. That’s the beauty of baseball, though. At any given moment, anything can happen.

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Around the League 🚩

• Reds SS Elly De La Cruz had an electric performance in the Bronx, connecting on a triple and a two-run home run in the club’s 5-4 victory vs the Yankees

• Cardinals 2B Nolan Gorman blasted a grand slam to power the Birds to a 7-4 win over the Pirates

• The Rangers rode huge performances by Nate Eovaldi and Nathaniel Lowe to blow-out the Padres

• The Giants rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to knock-off the Braves by a 5-3 score in Atlanta