The Mets began their final home series against the Nationals on Friday night. They had rookie pitcher Brandon Sproat on the mound, facing the Nationals rookie Andrew Alvarez, who had looked pretty good in the first three games of his career.

The first inning went well for Sproat, retiring the Nationals in order with two strikeouts (including one very laborious ten pitch strikeout of CJ Abrams). The bottom of the first had the Mets striking early. Francisco Lindor led off with a single, and after Juan Soto struck out, Pete Alonso got a single of his own. And after a fielding error by Dylan Crews, Lindor was able to score from first for the Mets first run of the game. Mark Vientos grounded into a double play to end the inning but the Mets had the early lead.

The second was quiet for both teams, with neither getting a single baserunner. Sproat had a busy, troublesome third inning. Paul DeJong walked, then scored from first when a Jorge Alfaro groundball was misplayed by both Sproat and Soto. Jacob Young walked to put two runners on, and after James Wood hit into a double play, Abrams doubled to drive in Young and put the Nationals in front. Josh Bells hit a “double” (that appeared to be more of an error by Jose Siri, inconsistent with the official ruling) to drive in Abrams, then a Daylen Lile triple on yet another Siri misplay drove in Bell. By innings end, the Nationals had gone from down one run to up three. In the bottom of the inning, after two outs, Lindor walked, then reached third on a Soto single with yet another Crews error. Pete Alonso then hit a single to drive in Lindor and cut the Nationals lead to two runs.

The Nationals had yet another quiet inning in the fourth, with Sproat retiring the side with two more strikeouts to his ledger. The bottom of the inning was even noisier for the Mets. Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte hit back-to-back singles, and Francisco Alvarez doubled to drive them both in and tie the game. Brett Baty was hit by a pitch, and after Jose Siri struck out for the first out of the inning, Andrew Alvarez was pulled in favor of PJ Poulin. Lindor then singled, driving in Francisco Alvarez. Baty and Lindor were both able to advance on a fielding error by James Wood, putting two runners in scoring position with only one out. Juan Soto then finally hit a three-run home run for the first time this season, which was his 42nd home run of the year and a new career high for Soto. Poulin was able to retire Alonso and Vientos after that, but the Mets went from down two to up four in one inning, with nine batters coming up in the inning.

Huascar Brazobán came in to relieve Sproat in the fifth, and it didn’t go great. Jacob Young led off with a single, and after another James Wood strikeout, CJ Abrams hit a two-run home run to cut the Mets’ lead in half and drive Brazobán from the game. Brooks Raley came in and closed out the inning. Sauryn Lao came in to pitch for the Nationals in the bottom of the inning. Starling Marte hit a one out single, and Alvarez grounded into a force out to keep a runner at first, at which point the Nationals brought in Konnor Pilkington to pitch and he got the final out to end the inning.

Between Raley and Ryne Stanek, the Mets were able to shut the Nationals offense down in the sixth with no issues. And other than a Soto single (which led to Soto’s 34th stolen base), the Mets were similarly silent in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Helsley came in for the top of the eighth and got through it cleanly, a welcome change for Helsley’s Mets tenure. Jeff McNeil pinch-hit for Vientos to lead off the eighth, and was pinch-run for by Luisangel Acuña after a single. Acuña stole second, advanced to third on a Nimmo groundout, then scored on a Marte groundout to increase the Mets lead back to three runs.

In the top of the eighth, Tyler Rogers was the pitcher of choice for the Mets, and he got three straight groundouts to put just three outs between the Mets and another win. Mason Thompson came in for the Nationals in the bottom of the eighth, and it didn’t go great. After two strikeouts, Lindor got a double. Soto was intentionally walked to put two runners on. Alonso walked to load the bases, and Acuña walked to drive in a run. Nimmo singled, driving in two runs and putting the Mets up six runs. Marte grounded out to end the inning but the Mets had just three outs between them and another win. And Chris Devenski was tasked with getting those three outs. And it was painful, with a single and double putting runners at second and third with one out, but Devenski was able to get two strikeouts to end the game without a run scoring.

The Mets need every win they can get, holding onto a wild card spot with only a couple games separating them from the rest of the pack behind them. The Mets have two more games against the Nationals, then a series in Chicago before ending the series in Miami. Hopefully by then the Mets will have a wild card spot sewn up. Though surely the Mets have never had an issue facing a Marlins team with playoff contention on the line…

Big Mets winner: Francisco Lindor, +21.2% WPA
Big Mets loser: Brandon Sproat, -26.6% WPA
Mets pitchers: -18.0 % WPA
Mets hitters: +68.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Alvarez’s two run double in the fourth, +21.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: CJ Abrams RBI double in the third, -11.7% WPA

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