CJ Abrams and Jacob Young fueled an early and late surge as the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 8-4 on Wednesday night, returning to .500 for the second time since the season’s first week.
WASHINGTON — CJ Abrams didn’t wait for the first pitch to settle. In the first inning, he launched a three-run homer that forced the New York Mets to chase a game they couldn’t slow down from the start.
By the time Jacob Young added a two-run shot in the eighth. the Washington Nationals had done enough in between to earn an 8-4 victory and climb back to .500 for the second time since the season’s first week. Washington improved to 25-25 after it reached 23-23 on Saturday, then suffered consecutive losses.
Andrew Alvarez sealed it with the kind of finish Washington had been missing. The Nationals got their first four-inning save since they relocated from Montreal in 2005, and Alvarez earned the save despite allowing Juan Soto’s two-run homer in the eighth.
Soto paced the Mets anyway. He homered twice in the loss for the last-place New York club, which dropped to 21-28. It was Soto’s 29th multi-homer game. and the streak is heavy against Washington: he has 12 home runs and 26 RBIs in 35 career games versus the Nationals. His form has also been climbing, with five homers in his last seven games overall.
The biggest difference for Washington came before Soto could fully take over. The Nationals pounced quickly on left-hander Zach Thornton, who was making his major league debut for New York. Curtis Mead singled with one out and Andrés Chaparro drew a walk. then Abrams ripped a cutter just over the wall in right-center for his 10th home run.
Washington added a second run in the second when Keibert Ruiz delivered an RBI single to beat a drawn-in infield against Thornton. Thornton’s day ended with Washington doing serious damage: he allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings and struck out three.
Zack Littell replaced Thornton and immediately faced the Mets’ power. Brett Baty brought a run-scoring single in the second. and Soto’s solo shot in the third cut the deficit to 4-2. Littell steadied after that. retiring seven of the next eight hitters to get through five innings while allowing two runs and striking out three.
The turnaround mattered as much as the results. Littell had started his Washington run at 0-4 with a 7.85 ERA in his first six appearances. In the four games since, he is 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA.
Alvarez’s work kept the Mets from getting the kind of momentum Soto was trying to build. After yielding the two-run homer in the eighth. Alvarez didn’t allow any other runners past first in his four-inning outing to earn his first career save. The franchise’s previous four-inning save had come with the Montreal Expos in 1999. making this one feel especially rare and earned.
Washington now shifts to the series finale Thursday, with Cade Cavalli (1-2, 4.05 ERA) set to start against LHP David Peterson (2-4, 5.40).
Washington Nationals New York Mets CJ Abrams Jacob Young Juan Soto Andrew Alvarez Zack Littell Zach Thornton Cade Cavalli David Peterson MLB