Juan Soto Sets New Career-High in Homers as Mets Crush Nationals

The New York Mets (80-74) kicked off their final regular season series at Citi Field this season with a bang, cruising to a 12-6 win over the Washington Nationals (62-92) on Friday night that featured plenty of defensive miscues by both clubs.

New York put the first run of the game on the board in the bottom of the first on a blooper off the bat of Pete Alonso that fell in front of Dylan Crews in right field, who botched the ball and allowed Francisco Lindor to score from first base.

The Nationals answered back in the top of the third, however, as they tied the game at 1-1 after Brandon Sproat made a throwing error on a dribbler off the bat of Jorge Alfaro that went into right field. Washington subsequently took the lead on a CJ Abrams double before Jose Siri dropped a line drive in the left center gap off the bat of Josh Bell, making it 3-1. Daylen Lile proceeded to triple on a ball that got past Siri in right center, expanding Washington’s lead to 4-1.

The Mets cut their deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the third after Pete Alonso singled in Lindor once again after the latter advanced to third on another error from Crews. In the fourth, they capitalized on a fielding mishap by Paul DeJong and an error by James Wood to take the lead at 5-4, with Francisco Alvarez and Lindor combining to bring in those three runs, before Juan Soto crushed a three-run homer for No. 42 on the year, which is a new career-high.

Abrams blasted a two-run homer off Huascar Brazobán in the fifth, but those would be the last tallies for Washington on the day. New York tacked on an insurance run by way of a Starling Marte groundout in the seventh before scoring three runs in the eighth on a Luisangel Acuña bases-loaded walk and a Brandon Nimmo single.

Sproat, who made the third start of his major league career, went four innings and allowed four earned runs while walking two and striking out five. The defense didn’t do him any favors, as previously mentioned, which inflated his numbers.

Ryan Helsley turned in a scoreless seventh inning out of the bullpen, marking his third-consecutive appearance without allowing a run.

Stat of the Game

Soto is now one of two players in MLB history alongside Barry Bonds (1996) to have a season that includes 42 0r more homers, 30 stolen bases and 120 walks.

Player of the Game

Soto is now slashing .343/.423/.731 with seven homers, 19 RBIs and eight stolen bases over 17 games in September. He went 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBIs, two walks and his 34th stolen base of the season against his former team on Friday night.

On Deck

Nolan McLean (4-1, 1.19 ERA) will look to keep things rolling against the Nationals’ Cade Cavalli (3-1, 4.76 ERA). First pitch is at 4:10 p.m., and coverage will air on SNY as well as MLB Network.

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