Nolan McLean Has Worst Outing Of 2026 As James Wood, Nationals Defeat New York Mets

The New York Mets stunned the baseball world by scoring 10 runs in the 12th inning on Monday night to defeat the Washington Nationals, 16-7, in extra innings. 

However, Tuesday night did not go as well for the Mets, although it started off with a bang. 

New York scored five runs in the first two innings as Bo Bichette had a two-run home run in the first and second innings, driving in Carson Benge on both occasions. 

Marcus Semien had a sacrifice fly, and the Mets took a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the second inning before everything tilted in favor of the Nationals. 

With Nolan McLean on the mound, the Mets were hoping for a strong outing, but the young star had his worst game of the season statistically. 

James Wood hit an inside-the-park grand slam in the second inning to cut the lead to 5-4. 

That was Nick Morabito, who was just called up by the Mets on Tuesday, and the ball hit off his glove and rolled far away from everybody as Wood cleared the bases. 

Jose Tena had a home run in the third to tie it, and CJ Abrams scored on a passed ball and Jorbit Vivas had a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 7-5 Nationals. 

Abrams then drove in two runs on a fielder's choice in another off sequence. 

Bichette fielded the ball but threw it off to the catcher, allowing two runs to score. 

In the end, McLean's night ended after 5.2 innings, eight hits and nine runs, although six were earned. His ERA went up to 3.57, and it was the most runs he allowed all season and the only time he allowed more than 3 runs in a single start. 

Juan Soto clobbered a home run against his former team in the seventh, but the damage was already done as the Nationals held a big lead at that point. 

Still, the Mets have played well lately and have now won six of their last eight games, so there is some momentum, and, at least, the offense has come to life. 

The Mets have now scored at least six runs in each of the last four games. 

Zach Thornton will make his MLB debut for the Mets on Wednesday and Zack Littell (2-4, 6.10 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Nationals in Game 3 of the series.