Final Score: Mets 9, Nationals 7—Wilmer Flores comes through again

The Mets defeated the Nationals by a final score of 9-7. This was a wild one right from the start, but by its end, Wilmer Flores’s folk hero status had again risen to new heights.

The starters for both teams, Bartolo Colon and Lucas Giolito, were knocked out early. Giolito did not make it out of the fourth after giving up four runs. Colon quickly followed in the fifth, when old friend/new nemesis Daniel Murphy had a double play overturned after a review. The inning continued and the Nationals pulled ahead with their final lead of the night.

That set the stage for Wilmer Flores, who did not start the game. He pinch hit in the fifth with two runners on. It took one pitch from Oliver Perez to turn the game around when Wilmer took Perez’s offering and planted it into the second deck.

The Mets would never trail after that, and when all was said and done it was a record-breaking night as the two teams combined to hit eight home runs, the most ever in a game at Citi Field. Most notably, the Mets’ three shortstops—the shortstop of the past, the beloved and beleaguered shortstop of the not-too-distant-past, and their current shortstop—all hit home runs tonight.

The Mets’ bullpen was solid, despite a hiccup from Antonio Bastardo, and the new Chase Utley rule played a role in the win. The rule was not enforced in the fifth but was called in the ninth to help the Mets and Jeurys Familia secure the win.

What a game.

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