Nationals rally past Mets in 11, buoyed by Mullins' miscue and Lile's inside-the-park homer

Washington Nationals defeated the Mets 5-3 in 11 innings Saturday at Citi Field, aided by a costly defensive miscue by Mets center fielder Cedric Mullins and Daylen Lile's inside-the-park homer that supplied the decisive runs. Lile sprinted around the bases in 14.86 seconds after a ball bounded off the wall, and the relay throw from the Mets' defense sailed over catcher Francisco Alvarez’s head as Lile touched home.

In the second inning, two Mets errors helped Washington build a 3-0 lead against rookie Nolan McLean. Center fielder Jose Siri had been booed by the home crowd Friday night after multiple misplays, underscoring the night of defensive woes for New York.

Mullins described the play, saying, "My first thought was to make a play on the ball. We were playing a little shifted over because Rogers is a unique pitcher, so the defensive alignment is a little different. He put a good swing on it, and I thought I got a decent jump. Once I realized that I wasn’t gonna have a play, I tried to stop myself to be able to read it off the wall. Just got up on me pretty quick." Mets manager Carlos Mendoza noted the tough break, adding, "It’s a tough one there, but once you realize that you have no chance on that play, maybe you give yourself a better chance to play it off the wall."

On the 11th-inning sequence, Lile's inside-the-park homer produced the final two runs, with Chaparro starting as the automatic runner and scoring from second on the relay before Lile sprinted home. The relay throw sailed high, and the Mets could not complete a comeback.

New York mounted a late bid but failed to solve Washington's bullpen and dropped to 0-66 this season when trailing after eight innings. The Mets entered the night with defensive miscues looming over a club that had already dealt with a shaky defense in the series, and the loss left them further in need of answers on both sides of the ball.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza offered a blunt assessment of the miscue and the late charge, emphasizing that the Mets must tighten fundamentals to avoid such costly mistakes in tight games going forward.

The Nationals continued to press, while the Mets watched a hard-fought game slip away on the back of a misplay and a late sprint by Lile.