Nats can't hold down Mets at end, lose in 10 (updated)

NEW YORK – These Nationals don’t know what postseason baseball feels like, and they won’t be finding out in 2024. They do want to experience it in 2025, though, at minimum the pressure of a September pennant race where the outcome of each game only magnifies down the stretch.

So consider the final two weeks of this season a dress rehearsal for the youngest team in the majors, with 13 games left on the schedule, all of them against teams still in the race. And the first set of games in this closing stretch – against the Mets at Citi Field – may have the most pressure-packed feeling of the bunch.

So how did the Nats handle it all in tonight’s series opener? They didn’t appear to be overwhelmed by the situation most of the night, certainly not Jake Irvin, who authored yet another gem against the Mets. But they could not deliver the one hit or the one pitch they needed with the game on the line late, and that’s why New York ultimately was celebrating a 2-1 10-inning win at the center of the diamond, a crowd of 21,694 roaring as the home team retook the final Wild Card position in the National League from the Braves.

"It's tough," manager Davey Martinez said. "(Irvin) threw the ball really well. I thought today was probably the best day I've seen him throw the ball. ... He gave us everything we needed. We just couldn't get those couple runs he needed."

Starling Marte won it with a line drive single to left off Jacob Barnes, the Nationals’ fourth pitcher of the night. Tasked with stranding the Mets’ automatic runner after his teammates couldn’t score theirs in the top of the 10th, Barnes got Francisco Alvarez to fly out to right for one out, though that allowed Harrison Bader to advance to third. Barnes then left a 3-1 fastball over the plate to Marte, who lined the ball into left field and was mobbed by his teammates as the Nats trudged off the field.

"The stadium wasn't even at max capacity, and you could feel it. It was bumping," Irvin said. "And that's where we want to be. Especially for a lot of these young guys who haven't played in an atmosphere like that yet, that was something that was really good. ... Situations like that are really cool. We find ourselves getting a little bit of acclimation to stuff like that. That's where we want to be."

The game-winner came two innings after the Mets tied it in the bottom of the eighth by finally getting an extra-base hit off Irvin and then a two-out RBI infield single off Derek Law.

Having already tossed seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball, Irvin was given the opportunity to retake the mound for the eighth, his pitch count at 90. The right-hander would give up a leadoff double to Tyrone Taylor, then thought he gave up an infield single to Alvarez before the Nationals successfully got the call overturned.

Martinez decided not to push his starter any farther. He signaled for Law out of the bullpen, hoping the veteran setup man could strand the tying runner on third with one out.

"We talked to (Irvin); he felt great," the manager said. "He was commanding everything. I told him: 'It's your game. If you get in trouble, we'll do something else.'"

Law did get what he wanted: two quick ground balls. The first one was fielded by shortstop Nasim Nuñez, who held the runner and got the out at first. The second one came right back toward Law with an exit velocity of 104.3 mph. He managed to get his glove on it, but not to snag it cleanly. And by the time he tracked the ball down, Jose Iglesias was safe at first and Taylor was safe at the plate with the game now tied.

Law managed to get out of the inning without any more damage, striking out J.D. Martinez with a 98 mph fastball at the knees. And when neither team could produce the game-winner in the ninth, this nailbiter went to extras all knotted up.

The Nationals had two chances to score the go-ahead runner from third in the 10th, only to watch Keibert Ruiz swing at what would have been ball four and ground out to a drawn-in shortstop, then Jacob Young ground out on the first pitch he saw.

"I know I've got to bring that run in," Ruiz said. "That's my job. But at the same time, it's not easy. I'm not going to (make an) excuse. I feel like I've been having good at-bats lately, the last couple weeks. I don't want to put my head down because of that at-bat. Baseball is a tough game."

That failed rally, though, set up the Mets to win it in the bottom of the inning, spoiling a brilliant start from Irvin.

Irvin had already established his ability to mow down this Mets lineup, having pitched the game of his life (eight innings of one-hit ball) against these guys July 4 in D.C. And he was coming off another excellent outing in his last start, when he held the Braves to two hits over six innings.

This, though, was a new challenge: A mid-September start on the road against an opponent in must-win mode as it tries to outlast Atlanta for the NL's final postseason slot. And he clearly was up for the challenge.

"This one was the best game of the year for him," Ruiz said. "I'm really happy for him for this outing. It sucks we didn't get the results we wanted. But overall, it was a really good game against a good team that's competing for the playoffs."

Utilizing the same fastball-heavy approach that worked so well last week, Irvin retired the first nine batters he faced on 37 pitches, striking out three to set the tone early. And though the Mets would get their first baserunner (plus two more) in the bottom of the fourth, it only set up Irvin’s highlight-reel moment of the year.

Two singles and a walk left the bases loaded with two outs and got the crowd fired up as Mark Vientos stepped to the plate. And when Vientos tabbed a little nubber down the third base line, everyone in attendance began to cheer, believing the Mets were going to score a run on the play. Until Irvin charged way off the mound to pick up the ball and fire a perfect strike to Juan Yepez at first, narrowly beating Vientos to the bag.

As he strutted back toward the dugout, Irvin pumped his fist. He threw his arms to the air, shook his head back and forth and let out a primal scream that might have been audible in Brooklyn.

"I think we try to preach the fundamentals here," he said. "I take a lot of pride in fielding my position. There's eight guys back there, and I'm one of them. I have to be able to make plays in a big situation like that. It's definitely rewarding to put in the work and have something happen like that."

It was the most vehement of several displays of emotion Irvin has displayed during his starts this season, but most of the others have come at the end of his outing. This time, he still had plenty more pitches to throw, not to mention a slim lead to protect.

The Nationals took that 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, getting a leadoff double from Yepez and then another clutch hit from José Tena. The rookie third baseman has made a habit out of delivering timely hits, no matter if he’s facing a right-hander or a lefty. So when he lined a ball to left off Sean Manaea to drive in Yepez and give his team the lead, it felt perfectly in character.

The Nats wouldn’t do anything else against Manaea, who allowed only four hits over seven strong innings, nearly matching Irvin pitch for pitch.

"We've got to get the ball in the strike zone. We can't chase," Martinez said. "We get the ball in the zone, we hit the ball hard. Today, we swung at some pitches out of the zone with two strikes, and we hit the ball on the ground when we should've hit the ball in the air."

So it remained up to Irvin and the bullpen to avoid even a single mistake that might flip this game in the wrong direction. Irvin did his part, coming right back from the emotional fourth inning to face the minimum in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

That he found himself talking about a loss after one of the best performances of his career was a tough pill to swallow.

"I thought I threw the ball well." Irvin said. "I like wins better than anything, so I'm not going to put it up there as one of my best."