Mets' comeback attempt falls short as Nationals win, 5-4

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Aug 20, 2025

Published in Baseball

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WASHINGTON — Too often this season, the Mets have taken steps forward in their play, only to suffer a devastating loss the next night. One step forward, only to take three steps back, sometimes more.

The Mets might not have won their fourth straight Wednesday night, but unlike in recent losses, they didn’t take a step back. In a 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals, the Mets didn’t blow any leads, there were no defensive gaffes and the lineup made life tough on right-hander Brad Lord.

A three-run comeback after going down 5-1 looked a lot more like the early-season Mets than the summer Mets. Brett Baty hit his 15th home run of the season and Jeff McNeil drove in two runs one night after driving home three.

After going down 4-0 in the fourth, Baty hit his second home run in as many days, off Lord in the top of the fifth to make it 4-1. After Josh Bell took Kodai Senga deep in the bottom of the inning, the Mets responded with three runs off Lord in the top of the sixth.

Lord (4-6) walked the first two hitters, Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, before striking out Starling Marte. Pete Alonso then doubled to the right-field corner to score Lindor and advance Soto to third. McNeil, the Mets’ hottest hitter as of late and arguably their most consistent bat in the lineup, took a 2-1 change-up and drove the ball to the left-field corner to score two more, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

Lord then exited the game and was replaced by right-hander Cole Henry. The Mets loaded the bases on Henry, but Baty’s fly ball to right field was too shallow for McNeil to score on, and Luis Torrens grounded out to end the inning.

It was the end of the comeback, but still, it showed fight.

Senga remains an enigma. After retiring the first six in order, he ran into trouble in the third. Catcher’s interference by Torrens didn’t help matters. It put two on with none out, and the Mets couldn’t turn a double play on Robert Hassell III’s ground ball, putting runners on the corners with one out. James Wood walked, and C.J. Abrams hit an infield single to score the runner. A fly ball scored another.

Senga (7-5) was charged with five runs (four earned) on six hits, walking two and striking out four. He pitched into the sixth inning but was lifted after giving up a single to Daylen Lile. It wasn’t exactly the Senga of April and May, but it was a more efficient outing than some of his more recent ones.

Cedric Mullins hit an infield single with one out to give the Mets hope in the ninth, but Torrens grounded into a double play to end the game.