Nationals 7, Mets 6: A Crisp, Well-Played Game!

Chris Young had a solid first outing of the year, allowing three runs (two earned) in five innings of work. The Nationals got to him for a Bryce Harper RBI single in the third and another RBI single from Ryan Zimmerman in the fifth. Omar Quintanilla botched a throw to the plate on the latter, allowing another run to score.

The Nats took a 3-0 lead into the top of the sixth behind the criminally underrated Jordan Zimmerman, who looked nigh unhittable until Jordany Valdespin started the frame with a pinch hit homer. Two outs later, David Wright hit his own solo shot to shave Washington's lead to a mere run. Then in the eighth, a Valdespin double and a pinch hit walk to Scott Hairston were followed by a two-run triple from Andres Torres to put the Mets in front.

The Mets failed to pad their lead, though, and paid for it when Tim Byrdak and Frank Francisco (asked to get a five-out save for some reason) combined to allow the tying run to score in the bottom of the eighth.

A quiet ninth sent things to extras, and in the top of the tenth, Scott Hairston singled, stole second, moved to third on a grounder, and scored on a wild pitch. But in the bottom half, two brutal Valdespin errors allowed the tying run to reach, then score.

The game lurched on into the 12th, when a leadoff homer from Hairston put the Mets on top for the third time. And once again, the Nats tied things up in the bottom half on consecutive doubles to start the inning. An unfortunate series of events loaded the bases, but the Mets nearly escaped before Harper delivered a walkoff single.

Full recap--if you can stand it--to come.

Game Thread Roll Call

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