A big night for James Wood, return of Jacob Young spark a 12-6 win for the Washington Nationals over the New York Mets
After the bats went cold the last three games, the Washington Nationals offense delivered the late game heroics in an encouraging 12-6 win over the New York Mets on Monday night.
In an open day for the bullpen, Zach Penrod drew the nod for the start where he allowed two earned runs and two hits while tossing a pair of strikeouts and one walk in the first inning. Eight different pitchers took the mound with Cionel Perez, Clayton Beeter and Julian Fernandez combining for four strikeouts across three innings. Jackson Rutledge would be on the mound for the meltdown eighth inning that led to a late tie.
An encouraging sign? James Wood, who entered the night with a .074 batting average, but finished with three hits and a solo home run in his five at bats.
Wood's first hit would end up opening the scoring for Washington after he singled into centerfield to open the night before Jacob Young, making his first appearance since Feb. 27, walked to get a second runner on. After Andrew Chaparro got on after drawing a walk, Daylen Lile would capitalize after his double into right field brought bout Wood and Young home, giving the Nationals an early 2-0 lead.
The Mets would answer back in the bottom of the inning thanks to a pair of doubles leading to two runs to tie the game.
Griff McGarry gave up a solo shot in the bottom of the second to give the Mets their first lead before a single brought in another runner in scoring position in the bottom of the third with Ken Waldichuk on the mound, putting Washington in a deficit.
Riley Adams would make it a fresh game after his two out single to left field in the top of the fourth brought in both CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr before Washington took the lead in the top of the sixth courtesy of a Mets' wild pitch.
Wood's solo shot would kick off the seventh inning, giving Washington a 6-4 lead, before the Mets answered back with a two run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Wood's final highlight of the night came in the top of the ninth after kicking off the inning with a double before Luis Arias stepped in as the pinch runner, letting Joey Wiemer drive in the game-winning run with a double into center field. Wiemer would eventually get home after getting to third on a foul out, then home on a wild pitch, giving Washington an 8-6 lead. Viandel Pena would clean it up with a two run single, blowing the game open to give Washington a 10-6 lead. The Nationals would add two more insurance runs thanks to singles by Harry Ford and Murphy Stehly.
The Nationals will return to action on Tuesday, March 17 to take on the St. Louis Cardinals with first pitch set for 1:05 PM. Washington is coming a loss to the Cardinals on Sunday, their first in four meetings. The two teams will meet once more on Thursday to close the series in spring training.