Washington Nationals walk off on New York Mets on 3-run homer by Kurt Suzuki which caps off 7-run 9th

Trailing 10-4 after eight and a half in the nation’s capital, the Washington Nationals rallied to score seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, capped off by a three-run, walk-off home run to left field by Kurt Suzuki, who crushed a 100 MPH 3-2 fastball from Edwin Díaz, 11-10 in D.C. Nats rally for the win and set up a rubber match with the New York Mets tomorrow...

Scherzer vs the Mets: Max Scherzer took the mound tonight (7-0) in his previous 12 starts, with a 1.40 ERA, 13 walks, 113 Ks, and a .189/.233/.305 line against in 77 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched over that streak of outings in which he was unbeaten, with the Nationals 9-3 in his turns in the rotation.

The streak began with a start against the New York Mets back on May 22nd, when he tossed six scoreless in what ended up a 6-1 loss for the Nationals in which he received no decision.

Going into tonight’s start, the right-hander was (1-1) in three outings against the Mets this season, with a 2.70 ERA, five walks, 28 Ks, and a .192/.263/.301 line against in 20 IP on the mound against the Nationals’ NL East rivals.

Scherzer started the matchup with the Mets with three scoreless and hitless on 46 pitches, but Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto hit back-to-back singles on the first pitches they saw in the first two at bats of the third, and Wilson Ramos followed with an RBI double to left on a first-pitch fastball, tying it up at 1-1 after the Nationals jumped out to an early lead.

A sac fly to center by Brandon Nimmo brought Conforto in, 2-1, and Joe Panik hit another first pitch, a cutter this time, out to right field and over the out-of-town scoreboard for a two-run home run that put the Mets up by three, 4-1. Panik’s 4th of the season, 1st with NY.

Scherzer retired seven in a row after Luis Guillorme’s two-out double in the fourth, but he was done after throwing 90 pitches in six innings, and he left in line for a loss...

Max Scherzer’s Line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks, 1 HR, 90 P, 61 S, 6/2 GO/FO.

deGrom in D.C.: Mets’ righty Jacob deGrom had a nine-start unbeaten streak snapped last time out on the mound before tonight’s game. deGrom was (4-0) over that stretch, before the loss to the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field, with a 1.22 ERA, 17 walks, 79 Ks, and a stingy .178/.242/.236 line against in 59 innings, five of them against the Nationals he was facing in the nation’s capital.

In three outings against Washington before tonight’s game in Nationals Park, deGrom was (1-0) with a 0.53 ERA, five walks, 25 Ks, and a .177/.250/.242 line against in 17 IP.

The Mets’ ace gave up a run early tonight, however, with Asdrúbal Cabrera doubling, taking third on a groundout, and scoring on a two-base hit to center by Juan Soto, who hit a first-pitch changeup out to Brandon Nimmo to make it a 1-0. Soto’s 27th double of the season.

deGrom held the Nationals there through three, and took the mound with a 4-1 lead in the fourth after his teammates rallied against Max Scherzer, and he retired the side in order in the Nats’ half of the fourth, and tossed a scoreless fifth, in which he worked around a leadoff walk.

Juan Soto took a fastball off the elbow with one down in the Nats’ sixth, and moved up to second when Matt Adams singled to snap an 0 for 20 stretch at the plate, and Kurt Suzuki followed with an RBI fly ball to center that scored Soto, but was only a single since Adams went back to first on the hit, and only took second when the ball hit the wall.

Gerardo Parra stepped up next and hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP.

deGrom worked around a walk in a 16-pitch seventh, and came back out for the eighth with a three-run lead, 5-2, at 95 pitches, and gave up a leadoff single by Anthony Rendon, and a two-run home run to right by Juan Soto, 5-4. That was it for deGrom...

Jacob deGrom’s Line: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 Ks, 1 HR, 100 P, 64 S, 7/1 GO/FO.

RendOBP Streak: With a double off Noah Syndergaard in the seventh yesterday, Anthony Rendon extended his on-base streak to 18-straight games, over which the 29-year-old third baseman was 32 for 72 (.444/.512/.847) with eight doubles, a triple, seven homers, and 10 walks (vs 9 Ks) in 84 PAs. Rendon was 0 for 3 the first three times up against Jacob deGrom tonight, but he reached on an infield single to lead off the Nats’ eighth, extending his streak to 19-straight games.

BULLPEN ACTION: Wander Suero needed 10 pitches to get through a scoreless seventh, picking Luis Guillorme off to end the inning after walking him with one down.

Roenis Elías took over on the mound in the eighth, and gave up a leadoff home run on a 1-1 fastball to Jeff McNeil. Pete Alonso singled to left in the next at bat, but one out later Elías got an inning-ending 5-4-3 DP out of Wilson Ramos.

Seth Lugo took over on the mound for the Mets after Jacob deGrom gave up a two-run shot by Juan Soto that made it 5-4 NY, and retired three in a row to send it to the ninth.

Elías (who started the night with a .346/.443/.538 line against LHBs this season, and gave up the home run by McNeil, and a single by lefty Pete Alonso in the eighth) came back out in the top of the ninth and gave up another home run, by Brandon Nimmo this time, another lefty, who hit a first-pitch fastball to right-center to make it a 6-4 game, and a single by Joe Panik (you guessed it, another lefty) before he was lifted.

Daniel Hudson took over for the Nationals and walked Todd Frazier to put two on with no one out, but he got one out on a liner from Luis Guillorme and induced what should have been an inning-ending double play on a grounder to short by Tomas Nido, but Trea Turner just threw to first, instead of going for the DP, apparently forgetting there was only one out, and two runs scored on a double by Jeff McNeil, 8-4 Mets.

Pete Alonso’s two-run blast to center made it 10-4 and ended Hudson’s night.

Javy Guerra got the final out of the inning, but the Mets were up by six...

Paul Sewald came on to end it and gave up a leadoff single by Victor Robles and a one-out RBI double by Trea Turner, 10-5. Asdrúbal Cabrera and Anthony Rendon followed with hits as well, with Rendon’s driving in the Nats’ sixth run, 10-6.

Luis Avilán came on and gave up the fourth-straight hit by the Nationals, a single by Juan Soto that loaded the bases in front of pinch hitter Ryan Zimmerman, who stepped in as the potential tying run...

Edwin Díaz came on next, and gave up a two-run double to right field by Zimmerman, 10-8, and Kurt Suzuki stepped in next and hit a 100 MPH 3-2 fastball to left field and over the wall for a walk-off, three-run home run!! WHAT? Suzuki wins it!!

Nationals now 78-59