*Photo from Federal Baseball*
All Carter Kieboom did was hit a ground ball. Fortunately for him, Francisco Lindor misplayed it, and the Washington Nationals jumped for joy. Andrew Stevenson drove in the tying run, Kieboom delivered the winning hit, and the Nationals defeated the Mets 4-3 in walk off fashion Monday afternoon.
Washington manager Dave Martinez said of the win that "These guys have been playing hard. I know their effort has been there, day in and day out. It’s good to see us come back, get a victory, and now we get to go on a plane and relax a little bit and go to Atlanta and try to go 1-0."
The walk off hit was the first of Kieboom's big league career, which so far has been underwhelming, but he gave Washington their 6th walk off win of the season. Of course, that wouldn't have happened if not for Stevenson, who entered the game as the guy with the 4th best pinch hit batting average in the league. Just in this series, he was responsible for 3 game tying hits.
Both teams picked up a run apiece in the first inning, with Pete Alonso getting an RBI single for the Mets, and Alcides Escobar scoring on a Juan Soto ground out. They kept it tied 2-2 in the 4th, when Jeff McNeil hit an RBI ground out for the Mets, and Lane Thomas added an RBI single for Washington.
In the 6th, Alonso gave the Mets the lead once again, cranking a solo home run to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the 9th, the game tying single from Stevenson and the game winning single from Kieboom gave Washington the dramatic win.
Kieboom said of his mentality that "I knew I was the fifth batter up in that inning. And I knew if there was any way we were going to win this, I was going to come up to bat with two men on. The more times you get into those situations, the better off you are and the more comfortable you get."
Kyle Finnegan got the win to improve to 5-6 this season for the Nationals, delivering two shutout innings out of the bullpen, striking out two hitters while allowing two baserunners. Patrick Corbin turned in a quality outing for the Nationals, winding up with a no decision after allowing 3 runs on 11 hits and one walk, fanning 4 hitters.
Edwin Diaz blew his 6th save of the season and fell to a 5-5 record by also taking the loss, allowing both runs to score in the 9th inning, recording just one out. Trevor Williams had a quality outing for the Mets, allowing two runs on 10 hits and two walks, striking out 3 hitters in 5 innings. Jeurys Familia and Seth Lugo pitched scoreless relief appearances, as did new addition Brad Hand.
Mets catcher James McCann said of the late season skid that "You do start standing watch. You do start seeing what other teams are doing, and that can be a dangerous situation if you’re worried about what other teams are doing, if you’re worried about what else is going around in the league instead of just taking care of your business.'
The Nationals travel to Atlanta to face the Braves on Tuesday, with Paolo Espino taking the mound for the series opening game. The Mets head south as well, to face the Marlins, as Carlos Carrasco gets the start for the Mets.
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