NEW YORK (AP) — Jeff McNeil snapped an eighth-inning tie with an RBI triple and the New York Mets squandered a pair of multi-run leads before recovering to beat the Washington Nationals 9-8 on Thursday night.
The Mets led 4-1 and 6-3 before C.J. Abrams’ grand slam in the top of the eighth gave the Nationals an 8-7 lead. But Starling Marte led off the bottom half with a single against Mason Thompson (2-2).
Marte stole second, went to third on a fly out by Francisco Lindor, and trotted home when Pete Alonso split the right-centerfield gap with a double.
McNeil then tripled off the right field wall.
Brooks Raley (1-0) surrendered the grand slam by Abrams but earned the win. David Robertson notched his fifth save with a perfect ninth.
The Mets snapped a four-game losing streak, their longest since a five-game skid from Sept. 16-21, 2021.
Lindor had two doubles and three RBIs, while Alonso had two RBI hits. His sixth-inning single snapped an 0-for-19 slump.
Rookie Brett Baty homered in the fourth and had his first three-hit game for the Mets, who scored nine runs during their losing streak. Mark Canha and Daniel Vogelbach also had RBIs.
Luis Garcia had a pair of RBI for the Nationals, while Alex Call homered.
Mets starter Joey Lucchesi allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings in his second start of the year following his recovery from Tommy John surgery in June 2021. Nationals starter Trevor Williams surrendered four runs in five innings.
