Instant Analysis: Nats 9, Mets 6

The Nationals stormed back from an early 5-0 deficit thanks to James Wood's inside-the-park grand slam and some sloppy New York defense

Photo by Billy Sabatini / ALL-PRO REELS

How did the Nationals make up an early five-run deficit for the second time in a week? With a James Wood inside-the-park grand slam, and a whole lot more offense after that.

Wood’s dramatic trip around the bases brought home the Nats’ first four runs after Foster Griffin had surrendered five runs in the first two innings to dig his team into a hole. But as they did Wednesday in Cincinnati, the Nationals erased that deficit by the third inning, scoring three more times in that frame thanks to José Tena’s homer and some shoddy Mets defense. They scored two more in the fourth on even more shoddy defense, ultimately leaving Nolan McLean with a career-high nine runs (six earned) on his pitching line.

Despite the pair of homers he surrendered to Bo Bichette, Griffin found his groove and churned out five innings to qualify for the win. Brad Lord came through with three strong innings of relief himself, giving up only Juan Soto’s solo homer in the seventh. Former Mets lefty Richard Lovelady then closed it out in the ninth against his former team.

Dylan Crews had an enjoyable, if unmemorable, return to the majors. The starting center fielder, who was promoted from Triple-A Rochester earlier in the day, went 1-for-4 with an infield single but happily celebrated the win with his teammates who welcomed him to the highest-scoring lineup in the majors.

HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Though there was plenty more offense to come after it, how can we ignore an inside-the-park grand slam? Wood had already lined a single to left-center in the first inning off McLean. When he came up the next inning, he knew he just needed to elevate the ball in the same direction. And he did … just not quite enough to clear the fence. No problem, because Mets left fielder (and McLean native) Nick Morabito couldn’t make the leaping grab at the top of the fence, and the ball caromed back toward no-man’s land in center field. Wood’s eyes lit up as he rounded first and realized what he now had a chance to do. And 15.15 thrilling seconds later, he slid across the plate with the first grand slam of his career, the second inside-the-park grand slam in team history.

PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Can you claim five runs in five innings to be a highlight? In this case, yes. Griffin’s night started off in disastrous fashion, with the Mets’ first four batters reaching and three of them scoring. And when Bichette launched his second homer in as many innings to make it 5-0 in the second, it looked like Griffin was about to lay an egg at the worst possible time for a Nats pitching staff that desperately needed length tonight. That’s why the rest of the left-hander’s start turned this disaster into a highlight. In shutting down the Mets over his final three innings and keeping his pitch count low enough to be able to complete five frames, Griffin helped save this game for his team. The offense scored all the runs to make up the deficit, but the starting pitcher salvaged his own outing to actually put himself in line for the win.

NOTABLE: The only other inside-the-park grand slam in Nats history? It came from Michael A. Taylor on Sept. 8, 2017 against the Phillies, when his hard line drive to center field soared over an unsuspecting Odubel Herrera’s head and rolled to the wall, with Taylor eventually eluding a tag at the plate to score.

UP NEXT: Zack Littell is the Nats’ scheduled starter for Wednesday’s 6:45 p.m. game, but look for Andrew Alvarez to back him up once again. The injury-depleted Mets will be calling up 24-year-old lefty Zach Thornton to make his MLB debut after only two starts at Triple-A Syracuse. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM