Mets make NL history, score 10 runs in the 12th inning in wild win over Nats

AL EastBlue JaysOriolesRaysRed SoxYankeesAL CentralGuardiansRoyalsTigersTwinsWhite SoxAL WestAngelsAstrosAthleticsMarinersRangersNL EastBravesMarlinsMetsNationalsPhilliesNL CentralBrewersCardinalsCubsPiratesRedsNL WestDiamondbacksDodgersGiantsPadresRockiesScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsThe Windup NewsletterFantasyMLB ProspectsMLB OddsMLB PicksPower RankingsStarting Pitcher RankingsMLB Latest The Mets were all smiles after they scored 10 runs in the 12th inning to beat the Nationals. Brad Mills / Imagn Images Share articleWASHINGTON — The New York Mets became the first National League team in more than a century to score 10 runs in an extra inning in their 16-7, 12-inning win over the Washington Nationals on Monday. What had been an entertainingly tense, back-and-forth game through 11 innings became farcical in the 12th when New York’s offense exploded, and Washington turned to a position player to finish the frame from the mound. “Every day you see something new,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re seeing a lot right now.” In a 6-6 game, the Nationals gave the ball to Paxton Schultz, who had worked each of the previous two days out of the bullpen. The Nationals, up until this game, had not asked any of their pitchers to throw three days in a row. After a sacrifice bunt moved the go-ahead run to third, Schultz allowed hits to five of the next six batters he faced, including a comebacker off his glove and a bases-loaded bunt single. When the lead ballooned to five runs, Washington manager Blake Butera came out to replace Schultz with third baseman Jorbit Vivas. That led to an extended delay in which umpires had to check with the replay office that a position player is permitted to pitch in the situation. Schultz thought he might get sent to the outfield. Butera said that, though he and his staff knew the rule, the umpires didn’t. New York, he said, couldn’t find the rule, either. “Very frustrating,” Butera said. “Shook out weird,” Schultz said. Beginning in 2023, MLB altered the rules stipulating when a position player can enter the game. He can do so if his team is trailing by eight runs, winning by 10 runs, or the game is in extra innings. “I didn’t know what was going on,” Vivas said through an interpreter. “There was some confusion there,” Mendoza said. “You’re putting that pitcher at risk, and I’m glad they were able to do that and let the position player pitch.” Once he got to the mound, Vivas allowed four more hits while recording the frame’s final two outs. “It’s hard to describe,” Brett Baty said. “It was a really competitive ballgame, and then we broke it open in the 12th.” The record for runs in a single extra inning is 12, held by the 1983 Texas Rangers in a game against the Oakland Athletics. The last National League team to score 10 in a bonus panel was the 1919 Cincinnati Reds, who broke open a scoreless tie with the Brooklyn Robins in a 10-0 win. (Those Reds won an infamous World Series.) Entering Monday’s inning, the Mets had never scored more than six runs in an extra inning before. Already this season, New York has played 10 extra-inning games. After scoring 11 runs after the ninth inning Monday, the Mets have scored 21 runs (or 11 percent of their total on the season) in extra innings. The biggest development for the Mets might have been the night for Bo Bichette, whose seventh-inning home run was his first extra-base hit since April 28. Bichette added two hits in the 12th, including a two-run double off Vivas. “I felt like I had a lot of swings that were really close lately,” Bichette said. “I was just waiting for something to connect to feel good about.” “I’m pretty sure he’s going to get going here and carry us for a little bit,” Mendoza said. The Mets have won six of their last seven to pull within five games of .500, the closest they’ve been since the middle of their 12-game losing streak. For Washington, Joey Wiemer reached base five times despite coming off the bench early in the game to replace Jacob Young. In the second inning, Young was removed after being hit by a Christian Scott sinker in the ribs. Wiemer was then hit in the hand by a pitch in the ninth. The Nationals have lost 16 of their 17 games while one game under .500. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms