(Not Quite) Instant Analysis: Mets 5, Nats 4

The Nationals survived a disastrous first inning by Brad Lord. They could not survive a disastrous ninth inning by Yovanny Cruz.

Photo by Billy Sabatini / ALL-PRO REELS

NEW YORK — A bullpen game that began with a disastrous first inning somehow ended with an even more disastrous ninth.

In spite of Brad Lord’s inability to complete one frame to begin the day, the Nationals still found a way to carry a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth at Citi Field. But rookie Yovanny Cruz, presented his first opportunity to close out a game since his acquisition from the Yankees, retired only one of the five batters he faced, ultimately giving up a walk-off single to Francisco Lindor and watching as the Mets celebrated in the center of the diamond.

Handed a 4-3 lead, Cruz immediately got into trouble, walking Brett Baty on five pitches to open the ninth. He never threw another fastball, relying instead almost exclusively on his slider, the pitch that still resulted in Jorge Polanco’s single, Francisco Alvarez’s game-tying double and Lindor’s game-winning single.

“Since I threw the first fastball, I didn’t feel comfortable with it,” Cruz said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “That’s why I immediately made the switch to the slider. I thought that was going to do the job, but it didn’t.”

The game couldn’t have gotten off to a more discouraging start than it did for the Nationals, who were hoping for four innings out of Lord but instead got only two outs from the right-hander, who walked four, threw 44 pitches and was unceremoniously yanked with his team down 2-0. Until Will Dion saved the day with 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, keeping the deficit where it was and getting the game to the sixth inning.

“Will Dion pitched his ass of for us,” manager Blake Butera said. “He was unbelievable. He picked us up in a huge way when Lordy couldn’t get out of the first there. To be able to do what he did, it was outstanding. I couldn’t have been happier. He gave us a chance to win that game, and it’s not easy to do that when your starter’s not able to get through the first inning.”

The Nats got two much-needed homers off Sean Manaea, with Andrés Chaparro taking the Mets lefty deep in the fourth and Brady House connecting for a three-run homer in the sixth to give his a team an unexpected, 4-2 lead.

That lead was cut to one run when Tom Cosgrove surrendered a lead off homer to Carson Benge in the bottom of the sixth, but Orlando Ribalta followed with a scoreless seventh to get the game to Clayton Beeter, who allowed the first three batters he faced in the eighth to reach but still somehow survived with the lead intact. It still required three more outs, though, this time from a rookie thrust into the closer’s role for the first time.

“As we’ve seen, we’ve used Ribalta and Beeter late in games,” Butera said. “But at the end of the day, those two guys have shown they’ve been our best relievers. I talked to them before the game and said we’re going to try something new. We’re going to you maybe a little bit earlier. Because at the end of the day, if we don’t get a chance to use you because we’ve lost the lead before then, then we’re not throwing our best relievers. But with that being said, we’ve got to find that next person to step up and be able to take the ball later in games as well.”

HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Though they’d done little against Manaea through five innings, the Nationals were still within striking distance. And then House delivered one big blast to flip the game entirely. Turning on a 1-1 sweeper, he sent the ball flying down the left-field line. House stood and watched, waiting to see if the ball would stay fair or not. And once it clanged high off the pole, he celebrated a trot around the bases having given the Nats the lead with his three-run homer.

PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Dion never expected he’d be on the mound in the first inning today. Nor did he ever expect he’d still be on the mound at the end of the fifth. What the left-handler did in between might go down as one of the most-impressive relief outings in team history. Summoned much earlier than planned after Lord’s disastrous bottom of the first, Dion immediately struck out Jorge Polanco to escape a bases-loaded jam. He wound up retiring the first seven batters he faced, six via strikeout. And he wasn’t close to finished. By the time he departed, Dion had tossed 4 1/3 hitless innings on 65 pitches, walking one while striking out seven.

“I told them I’m built up to 70. I’ve got 70 pitches in me,” said Dion, who was a starter in the minors with the Guardians prior to this season. “So, however you want to use me, go ahead. It’s a free run.”

NOTABLE: The club record for strikeouts by a reliever in a game is eight, set by the otherwise forgettable Cory Abbott on Sept. 21, 2023, during a 4 2/3-inning appearance against the Braves in which he also gave up four runs on eight hits.

UP NEXT: The series wraps up Sunday at 1:40 p.m. when Jake Irvin takes the mound against right-hander Christian Scott.