The Mets have been additional unfortunate Sunday afternoon at Citi Discipline, seeing Washington Nationals heart fielder Jacob Younger rob each Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez of residence runs. However they did themselves few favors in a 3-2 loss.
The Nats, the last-place workforce within the NL East, took the collection, 2-1, and the Cincinnati Reds (80-76) edged the Chicago Cubs 1-0 for a win to knock the Mets (80-76) out of a playoff spot. It marks the primary time since April 5 the Mets have been on the skin of the playoff image wanting in.
With six video games to go, they’re behind the Reds for the third NL Wild Card spot by advantage of Cincinnati proudly owning the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Arizona Diamondbacks additionally personal the tiebreaker over the Mets. The Snakes are just one.5 video games out of the Wild Card standings.
“It’s been happening right in front of our eyes, so yeah, I can definitely believe it,” mentioned outfielder Brandon Nimmo. “We’re down to the last week of the season and our playoff hopes are in front of us. We’ve got to play winning baseball and put it all together. It’s come and gone during the season, so we just need to pick ourselves back up.”
There was sloppy protection and a few questionable baserunning, however the two performs made by Younger in heart discipline have been intestine punches of kinds.
Within the backside of the fifth with the Mets trailing 3-1, Baty drove a 2-0 fastball from right-hander Cole Irvin to the middle discipline wall, the place Younger jumped for the catch and made it earlier than colliding with the wall. The then ball popped out of his glove, but Younger by some means managed to kick it again as much as himself with out letting it contact the bottom, catching it once more for the out.
The circus catch rendered a sellout crowd speechless.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that, where the ball comes off the glove and he’s able to somehow kick it and he makes the play,” mentioned supervisor Carlos Mendoza. “Then that one the last inning, pretty unbelievable too.”
Within the backside of the ninth, Francisco Alvarez took left-hander Mitchell Parker deep to heart discipline. As soon as once more, Younger jumped for the catch, nabbing it over the wall this time. It was reviewed, however finally the decision was confirmed.
Baty’s dive would have been a house run in 22 parks; for Alvarez, it might have been a homer in 17 parks.
“It’s one of those that you want it for Baty and you want it for Alvy, but at the end of the day, that’s not where we lost the game,” mentioned shortstop Francisco Lindor. “My defense wasn’t good, and I gave them a run.”
The piggyback begin with left-hander Sean Manaea and righty Clay Holmes was efficient, although not fairly as efficient because the final outing. The Nats (64-92) took a 3-0 lead within the second inning, capitalizing on a wild throw by Lindor.
With one out and one on, Jorge Alfaro fouled again six straight pitches to fall behind within the depend, 0-2. The catcher then lined a sweeper from Manaea to left discipline. Enjoying it off the wall, Brandon Nimmo hit the cutoff man, Lindor, however his throw to second to get the lead runner, Daylen Lile, went properly previous Jeff McNeil. Lile scored, and the Mets gave Washington an additional out to work with.
Nasim Nuñez, a Bronx native, made it depend when he took Manaea deep for a two-run homer two batters later.
The Mets made 4 defensive errors in three video games this weekend.
“The defense could have been way better, for sure,” mentioned first baseman Pete Alonso. “We were able to fight our way back in games, and that’s a good sign, but obviously you’d like to be able overcome a [deficit]. We could’ve played better, for sure.”
The Mets scored as soon as within the third inning on a play that took Lile out of the sport with a knee contusion. The outfielder crashed into the wall attempting to catch a ball from Cedric Mullins down the left discipline line. Neither Mullins, nor first base coach Antoan Richardson knew the play was nonetheless alive. Luis Torrens scored from second whereas Mullins stayed at first base, with the dugout yelling from behind him to take second.
By the point he heard them, the play was lifeless. Interim supervisor Miguel Cairo was out of the Washington bullpen with the coach calling for time to examine on his injured participant.
Mullins needed to accept a single, after which was then doubled off first when Lindor hit a line drive proper to first baseman Josh Bell.
Lindor hit his twenty eighth homer of the season to guide off the sixth, pulling the Mets to inside one. They put two on with just one out, prompting the Nationals to alleviate Irvin with Parker. He struck out McNeil and Mark Vientos. Dwelling plate umpire John Tumpane ejected Vientos for slamming his bat on residence plate.
Irvin (9-13) held the Mets to 2 earned runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings, strolling two and hanging out 5.
Manaea (2-4) pitched into the fourth because the opener, whereas Holmes gave the Mets 3 2/3 scoreless innings to present them an opportunity to return again.
Initially Revealed: September 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM EDT
