Inside-the-park homer sinks Mets as late rally goes all for naught in wild loss in extras to Nationals
Daylen Lile's two-run inside-the-park homer in the 11th off Tyler Rogers lifts Washington past New York, as the Mets squander late opportunities and slip further in the NL wild-card race.
The Washington Nationals defeated the New York Mets 5-3 in 11 innings Saturday night at Citi Field, a win anchored by Daylen Lile’s two-run inside-the-park homer off Tyler Rogers in the 11th. The blast capped a night in which Washington capitalized on miscues and timely hits, while the Mets failed to finish a comeback that began in the ninth.
Juan Soto delivered a ninth-inning hit to pull the Mets even, but New York pressed for a winner without success. The Mets had two chances to cash in in the late innings, yet two crucial spots produced only weak contact and late swings. In the 10th, Francisco Alvarez grounded into a double play with two on and nobody out, and Ronny Mauricio lined out to left as the Mets frustrated themselves again at the plate. The 11th proved costly for New York, as Lile’s inside-the-park shot off Rogers turned a tie game into a deficit that the Mets could not erase.
The Mets starter Nolan McLean wasn’t sharp early but limited the damage, allowing four hits and walking two while yielding only one earned run over five innings and striking out six. New York’s offense, which had averaged seven runs in the previous five games, was mostly quiet for much of the day. They did get a two-out, two-RBI double from Mark Vientos in the eighth, providing a brief spark, but the Mets finished 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
In the second inning, the Nationals grabbed the lead through a sequence that featured two Mets errors and a wild pitch that helped push across a pair of runs. Francisco Lindor misplayed a ball that should have been routine, allowing Riley Adams to reach and setting the stage for a subsequent error, a wild pitch, and a run. Alonso’s throwing error on a grounder by Brady House extended the frame, and a wild pitch scored Adams. New York, meanwhile, failed to capitalize on chances of its own early, with two runners aboard in the bottom half of the inning, only to have a promising inning stall when Brett Baty rolled over a 2-0 fastball.
The Mets did salvage a late push, highlighted by a ninth-inning rally that briefly changed the tone of a frustrating day. Soto’s ninth-inning single tied the game, providing New York with renewed life and hope of a dramatic finish. But the bullpen and the remainder of the lineup could not sustain the momentum. The two teams would exchange the lead no more in regulation, and Washington rode Lile’s 11th-inning heroics to the final margin.
The loss preserves Washington’s chance to split the series and denies the Mets a chance to pull closer in a crowded National League wild-card race. For New York, the defeat could tighten the gap in the NL final wild-card standings, depending on Cincinnati’s result against Chicago later on. The Mets return to Citi Field on Sunday with an opportunity to avert a series loss, but they will need to translate their opportunities into runs and clean defense to avoid another late heartbreak.
Despite the late drama, Washington’s victory was built on disciplined execution when the Mets seemed every bit as capable of answering. Lile’s inside-the-park homer marked a rare moment of offensive significance in a game dominated by defense and timely misplays, a reminder of how quickly a late rally can be undone by an opponent’s timely hits and a tight game’s final frames.
As the regular season winds toward its close, the Mets will try to reset for a decisive finale on Sunday. The series will carry added weight given the wild-card implications, and the club will need sharper execution at the plate and cleaner defense behind its younger pitcher to avoid another gut-punch loss that has threaded through a maddening campaign.