Jeff McNeil sends Mets fans into frenzy with instant walk-off vs. Nationals

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Jeff McNeil wasted no time playing hero Tuesday night at Citi Field, lifting the New York Mets to a 5-4 walk-off win over the Washington Nationals with a first-pitch double down the right field line in the 10th inning. The clutch knock scored Luisangel Acuña — the automatic runner at second — and capped off a dramatic comeback that had fans roaring in Queens.
'I was just looking for anything I could hit to the right side,' McNeil said after the game. 'Wasn't trying to do too much. I felt like they were trying to go hard and away, so I was kind of cheating out there.'
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The win extended the Mets' hot streak to four straight victories and pushed their record to 43-24 — now 19 games above .500 and holding a comfortable lead atop the NL East. It also marked the team's sixth walk-off win of the season, second-most in Major League Baseball.
McNeil's night was part of a two-RBI effort, continuing a strong stretch in which he's hitting .341 with four home runs and nine RBIs over his last 11 games. His second-inning bloop single also got New York on the board early.
The Mets take game one over the Nationals
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
But it took more than just McNeil to seal this win. Juan Soto, facing the team that originally drafted him, came through in the clutch, tying the game in the bottom of the eighth with a scorching RBI double to right. The ball, hit at 107.3 mph, skipped past a diving Robert Hassell III and allowed Starling Marte to score from first after drawing a gritty two-out walk.
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'That's a 12-year veteran taking an at-bat right there,' Soto said of Marte. 'He stayed on his plan and gave me and Pete [Alonso] a shot.'
Alonso made good on that chance, smashing a game-tying single off the left field wall to score Soto. Though he was thrown out stretching for a double, the damage was done.
Earlier in the game, Soto had gone deep off MacKenzie Gore in the third inning, launching his 12th homer of the year with a stare toward Gore — a subtle nod in a matchup full of backstory. Gore and CJ Abrams were part of the package Washington received in the 2022 blockbuster trade that sent Soto to San Diego.
Abrams made his presence felt too, going 3-for-4 with a home run and two doubles. He helped the Nationals take a 4-2 lead into the eighth with his fifth-inning solo shot.
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Mets starter Griffin Canning struggled again, giving up four runs across 5.1 innings. Still, Reed Garrett and Edwin Diaz combined for scoreless work in the ninth and 10th, giving McNeil his moment.
The Nationals, still in rebuilding mode, fell to 30-36. They'll send Jake Irvin to the mound Wednesday against Mets lefty David Peterson. But for now, it's the Mets — powered by veteran grit and walk-off flair — who remain in control of the East.
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