Lead Gone, Game Gone, Mendy Next ? : Mets Sink in Another Rough Loss

Nationals 5 Mets 4 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 10-21

Mets streak: Lost 2

WP -Mitchell Parker (2-0)

LP - Luke Weaver (2-1)

S- Gus Varland (3)

Seat on the Korner: CJ Abrams

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

CJ Abrams earns the seat of the Korner tonight as the clear Star of the Game, and it wasn’t just about the final line—2-for-3 with a home run, 3 rbi, 1 BB, and a strikeout—it was about how completely he controlled the flow of the night. The No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Blessed Trinity (Ga.) High School, drafted by San Diego, continues to show why his ceiling has always been so high. Even on a night where he didn’t need to be perfect, he was unavoidable—working counts, getting on base, and delivering the biggest swing of the game with a home run that flipped the momentum when it mattered most. On a road trip where he entered at 4-for-16 with a double, 3 RBI, and a walk, Abrams broke through in a way that reminded everyone why he’s already an NL All-Star and one of the most dynamic young players in the game.

The underlying numbers only reinforce what the eye test already told you: this is a player impacting games in every phase. He ranks among the National League leaders in OBP (.394), OPS (.918), and RBI (23), while also sitting near the top of MLB in batting run value, a reflection of just how consistently he changes outcomes even when he’s not filling the box score with hits. Add in his improved plate discipline—boosted walk rate and reduced strikeout rate compared to his career norms—and it’s clear this isn’t just a hot stretch, it’s an evolving star taking another step forward. Nights like this, where he reaches base five times and delivers the defining swing, are exactly why Washington views him as a cornerstone—and why, for one night at least, the seat of the Korner and a Getty Gift Card belongs to CJ Abrams.

Need to Know

• Prior to today's game, the Mets announced the following roster moves

• RHP Carl Edwards Jr. has been designated for assignment...RHP Austin Warren has been re-called from Triple-A Syracuse...OF Luis Robert, Jr. has been placed on the 10-Day Injured List, retroactive to April 27, with lumbar spine disc herniation...INF Eric Wagaman has been recalled from Triple-A

  Syracuse. Additionally they have claimed Andy Ibáñez off of waivers from the Athletics.

• The Mets are now 10-21 (.323) and once again have the worst record in baseball.

• The Mets are 3-17 in their last 20 games dating back to April 8 and have been outscored 106-53 during that span.

• The Mets concluded a 10-day, nine-game homestand against 4 teams under .500 and went 3-6 against the Twins (2-1), Rockies (0-3) and Nationals (1-2)

• Soto has reached base in all 16 games played this season, the longest on-base streak to begin any season of his career.

• The Mets are in the finished off their third homestand of the season...The team is 6-12 in New York this year...The team has posted a 4.50 ERA (83 ER/166.0 IP) at Citi Field in 2026.

• Coming into this afternoons game the Nationals rank second in Major League Baseball with 170 runs, the second most by a Nationals club in team

  history (2005-pres.) through its first 31 games behind the 2017 National League East champion Nationals (194).

• Nationals Third baseman Jorbit Vivas has hit safely in 16 of his 19 starts this season and has reached base safely in 12 consecutive starts.

• Miles Mikolas made his 10th career appearance against the Mets.After taking a no decsion in today's game He holds a 2-4 record over New York. Mikolas owns a 5.29 ERA (30 ER/51.0 IP) with 31 strikeouts and ten walks in ten game starts against the Mets.

• Freddy Peralta pitched well today rebounding from a early error in the second inning which cost him 2 runs, his final line on the day was 6 innings pitched 4 hits 3 runs 1 earned, 6 strike outs and 3 walks.

Turning Point

Two innings after the Mets had flipped the game on its head, Citi Field finaly felt like maybe the worm had turned. Mark Vientos had delivered the swing that changed everything in the sixth, ripping a double that capped New York’s rally from a 3–0 hole and pushed them into a 4–3 lead. For a brief stretch, it felt like the Mets had wrestled control away for good. But the top of the eighth told a very familar story—and it all unraveled in a hurry.

It began with a pitching change, Luke Weaver coming on for Brooks Raley, but the Nationals immediately turned pressure into production. Luis García Jr. singled to center, Daylen Lile reached on a force play, and then CJ Abrams—entering the night in the midst of a red hot road trip at 4-for-16 with a double, 3 RBI, and a walk—delivered the biggest swing of the game. He crushed a home run to right-center, flipping the scoreboard back in Washington’s favor and instantly erasing the Mets’ hard-earned lead, with Lile scoring in front of him. José Tena’s strikeout briefly slowed the momentum, but the damage was done; Jorbit Vivas’ flyout ended the inning, leaving the Mets and the Citi Field uncomfortably numb, as a once-secure lead evaporated in a single, decisive frame.

Three Keys

Mendy Math Doesn’t Add Up in Crucial Eighth Inning Call

In the bottom of the 6th inning the Mets had shown exactly how they wanted to win this game—and it worked to perfection. Juan Soto drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, and rather than swing away, Carlos Mendoza stuck with the small-ball approach, asking one of his hottest hitters, MJ Melendez,who already tied the game with a three run homer earlier to drop down the first sacrifice bunt of his career. Melendez executed it flawlessly, moving Soto into scoring position, and Mark Vientos did the rest, driving him in to give the Mets the lead. It was a clear, disciplined approach—and a successful one. Which is why the eighth inning felt so jarringly inconsistent. Soto again set the table, this time with a leadoff double off Dicky Lovelady (yeah that Dicky Lovelady), but instead of sticking with Melendez—either to bunt again or simply ride the hot bat—Mendoza lifted him for Austin Slater, a .160 hitter, who promptly grounded out to short and failed to advance the runner. You can live with players not executing, but it’s much harder to justify abandoning a philosophy that already paid off earlier in the game, especially when it means removing one of your most productive bats in a key moment. Over the long haul, it’s these kinds of mixed signals and second-guesses that don’t just cost you innings—they start costing managers jobs.

Wood Works in the Field: A Masterclass in Leather Defense

Even though James Wood finished the night 0-for-3 at the plate, his fingerprints were all over this game in ways that don’t show up in the box score. In the first inning, he set the tone defensively by robbing Juan Soto of a home run, leaping at the wall to take away what would have been an early tone-setter for the Mets. He wasn’t done there. In the fifth, with Bo Bichette looking to add to the damage, Wood again came up with a game-changing play, tracking down another extra-base hit and turning it into an out. Offensively, the line reads quiet—but defensively, Wood was anything but, single-handedly erasing runs and shifting momentum with a glove that kept Washington in the game.

If Mendy Knows Mets History, He's Already Nervous

The Mets now pack their bags for Anaheim, and if you believe in baseball karma or just have a long memory and a slightly twisted sense of humor—this is where things start to feel uncomfortably familiar. This club sits at 10–20, playing like a team that can’t decide whether it’s rebuilding, retooling, or just rebooting the same bad episode. With Boston and Philadelphia already pulling the managerial eject cord this week, the spotlight gets a little hotter on Carlos Mendoza. And history has a funny way of tapping you on the shoulder right when you’re trying to ignore it: back in 2008, Willie Randolph famously got the late-night “don’t unpack your bags” treatment after a win on the West Coast, dismissed in the wee hours following an Angels series in a move that felt more like a plot twist than a baseball decision. Different year, different roster, same uneasy backdrop as the Mets head into Anaheim again. If the play on the field doesn’t sharpen up—situational hitting, bullpen sanity, the basics that keep a season from unraveling—this trip could be about more than just turning things around. It could be about who’s still holding the lineup card when they get back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_7xW4FaG8g