Daylen Lile said he enjoyed the silence that engulfed Citi Field on Saturday following his 11th-inning, two-run, inside-the-park homer for the Washington Nationals.
The New York Mets can only hope it won’t also silence their playoff hopes as they enter Sunday holding a one-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds for the final National League wild-card spot. Cincinnati won the season series over New York 4-2 and has the tiebreaker should the teams finish with the same record.
The Mets (80-75) will look to avoid a damaging series loss on Sunday afternoon, when they host Washington (63-92) in their regular-season home finale.
Left-hander Sean Manaea (2-3, 5.40 ERA) is slated to come off the paternity list and start, though he will be followed in a piggyback role by right-hander Clay Holmes (11-8, 3.77). The Nationals will counter with right-hander Jake Irvin (8-13, 5.76).
Lile’s electric sprint around the bases Saturday snapped a tie and lifted the Nationals to a 5-3 win.
The defeat was a frustrating and untimely one for the Mets, who missed a chance to win after trailing through eight innings for the first time this season.
The Mets trailed 3-0 entering the eighth, when Mark Vientos laced a pinch-hit two-run double. Juan Soto tied the score with a one-out RBI single in the ninth, but New York left the bases loaded when Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte struck out.
The Mets also squandered a two-on, none-out opportunity in the 10th before Cedric Mullins attempted to catch Lile’s fly ball over his head instead of positioning himself to field the carom. The ball skipped past Mullins, and Soto didn’t back up the play in right-center as Lile scored easily.
“It got real quiet as I crossed home plate,” Lile said. “So that was nice.”
The Mets’ struggles on both sides of the ball Saturday symbolized the issues that have haunted them in going 35-51 since June 13. New York stranded 13 runners and committed two errors, including Soto’s misplay of Riley Adams’ single to right that led to two unearned runs in the second inning.
“We’ve been inconsistent — we go through stretches where we make plays, we play clean and then we’ve been through stretches where that happens,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We don’t have too much time.
“We’ve got to turn the page and get ready for another one.”
The win was worth savoring for the last-place Nationals, who snapped a five-game losing streak one day after locking up their fourth last-place finish since winning the World Series in 2019.
In addition to Lile’s highlight reel-worthy homer, the Nationals received yeoman work from their bullpen, which has the worst ERA in the majors at 5.60.
“We’ve got warriors with big hearts,” interim Nationals manager Miguel Cairo said. “They were resilient — that’s the word I’m going to use today, resilient. And tomorrow, we’ll see what’s going to happen. But today was a beautiful day.”
Manaea earned the win in relief of Holmes on Tuesday, when the southpaw allowed one run over five innings in the Mets’ 8-3 home victory over the San Diego Padres. Holmes gave up two runs in four innings.
Manaea is 1-2 with a 3.97 ERA in 34 innings over six career games (five starts) against the Nationals. Holmes is 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA and one save in 11 2/3 innings over five games (one start) against Washington.
Irvin took a defeat Tuesday, surrendering five runs over six innings as the Nationals lost to the Atlanta Braves 6-3 in the opener of a doubleheader. He is 1-4 with a 4.87 ERA in 44 1/3 innings over seven starts against the Mets.