The New York Mets (66-58) continue their push towards the postseason as they embark on a six-game road trip, beginning with three against the Washington Nationals (50-74). The Mets have won five out of seven against the Nats this season, which includes splitting four games at Nationals Park in April.
The Mets won their first series in the month of August as they took two out of three from the Mariners. Things kicked off on a bad note with an 11-9 defeat, as the losing ways from the series against
the Braves carried over. The Mets got two homers from Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto’s 30th home run of the year, and the Mets had multiple leads, but they blew them all. In the seventh, Ryan Helsley and Brooks Raley combined to allow five runs, and even a Francisco Alvarez three-run shot later in the game could not help New York climb out from this deficit.
The Mets bounced back with a 3-1 victory on Saturday, as Nolan McLean picked up a win in his first major league start. The right-hander tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings and made a sensational snag in the field to initiate an inning-ending double play against Julio Rodríguez. On offense, Lindor stole his 20th base to notch his fifth 20/20 season. The Mets’ three biggest bats—Lindor, Soto, and Pete Alonso—drove in the runs, as Alonso reached the 100 RBI mark for the third time in four years. Edwin Díaz pitched the final two innings to secure the save.
The Mets wrapped up a series victory in Williamsport with a 7-3 win in the Little League Classic. The Mets jumped all over George Kirby with three runs in the second, and the Mets piled on with a four-run fifth, which was highlighted by Mark Vientos’ three-run homer. The team navigated a two-run homer from Cal Raleigh, his 47th of the year, and held on for the victory.
With Philadelphia’s win yesterday against Seattle, the Mets reside 5.5 games out of first place in the NL East. Meanwhile, the Reds won their Monday game against the Angels, which puts the Mets just one game clear of Cincinnati for the final playoff spot. If you want to look at the full Wild Card picture, the Mets are 2.5 back of the Padres for the second Wild Card spot, and four games behind the Cubs, who hold the top spot, which comes with hosting the three-game set at your home ballpark. If the season ended today, the Mets would be matched up with the Phillies in the Wild Card round, representing a rematch of last year’s NLDS, which the Mets took three games to one.
One thing that will certainly help the Mets on their postseason push is a resurgent Lindor, who was named NL Player of the Week after slashing .560/.640/1.040. In that six-game run he hits three homers, knocked in seven runs, scored seven runs, and posted a 356 wRC+ in 25 at-bats. As Lindor goes, so go the Mets, and as Lindor heats up, the Mets seem downright unbeatable.
The Nationals split a four-game set with the first-place Phillies over the weekend. Prior to that, they dropped two of three to the Royals. The Nationals have the worst record in baseball since June 1 at 22-44.
While Nationals fans have not had a lot to cheer about, their two young stars have given them something to watch every night. Shortstop CJ Abrams, an All-Star in 2024, is leading the club with a 3.2 fWAR, 75 runs scored, and 25 stolen bases while slashing .270/.332/.463 with 16 homers and a 120 wRC+ in 109 games. Meanwhile, left fielder James Wood, an All-Star for the first time this season, leads the club in a number of categories, including wRC+ (130), home runs (25), runs batted in (80), SLG% (.479), and OPS (.835) in a team-high 122 games.
Tuesday, August 19: David Peterson vs. Jake Irvin, 6:45 PM EDT on SNY
Peterson (2024): 136.1 IP, 177 K, 50 BB, 9 HR, 3.30 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 82 ERA-
Peterson cruised through three shutout innings in his last start against the Braves on August 13 before imploding in a calamitous fourth, which he could not escape. The inning went: Walk-single-strikeout swinging-walk-walk-double-walk before he was finally lifted in favor of Reed Garrett. Garrett didn’t fare all that much better, and all told Peterson was charged with a season-high six earned runs over his 3 1/3 innings. He also allowed five hits, struck out five, and matched his season high by walking five. It was a rare blip in recent days for the lefty, who has been the most reliable Mets starter in terms of giving his team length in his outings.
Irvin (2024): 140.0 IP, 94 K, 47 BB, 27 HR, 5.14 ERA, 5.4o FIP, 122 ERA-
Irvin enjoyed one of his best starts against the Mets this year, limiting New York to one earned run on five hits over 7 1/3 innings back on April 25. At that point, his ERA was at a season-best 3.19 through six starts. In 19 starts since then, he owns a 5.84 ERA and a 5.79 FIP. His best start of the year came on May 24 when he shut out the Giants over eight innings to pick up his fourth win of the year. In his 14 starts since then, his ERA is even worse at 6.78, with a 6.23 FIP. One big reason is the home run ball, as the right-hander has served up 27 long balls in 2025, the most of any pitcher in the NL. His 1.74 HR/9 is also second-worst among all qualified starting pitchers in baseball.
Wednesday, August 20: Kodai Senga vs. Brad Lord, 6:45 PM EDT on SNY
Senga (2024): 99.2 IP, 95 K, 48 BB, 10 HR, 2.35 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 58 ERA-
Senga came so close to completing six innings, but tired out a bit towards the end of his last start and settled for 5 2/3 stellar frames. In all, he allowed two earned runs on five hits, and was in line for the win before Ryan Helsley blew the game in the eighth innings. He struck out seven while allowing just one walk, though he did allow another homer, making it five straight starts allowing a home run and six over those five outings—for reference, he allowed just four in his first 14 starts. Still, it was an encouraging sign after a rough string out outings, and Senga pitching more like that will be a huge boost for the Mets down the stretch.
Lord (2024): 91.0 IP, 73 K, 29 BB, 7 HR, 3.26 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 78 ERA-
Lord was an 18th round draft pick for Washington in 2022 and has quickly worked his way up to the team’s 2025 Opening Day roster. He’s had two stints in the rotation this year, and his current run has been the more successful of the two. He is coming off two strong six-inning starts; in his most recent outing, he went six innings against the Phillies and allowed two runs on seven hits, and in his previous outing against the Giants, he went six innings of one-run ball against the Giants as he earned his third career victory. He made a start against the Mets back in April and allowed two earned runs on four hits, and then made a relief outing against New York in June and picked up a hold.
Thursday, August 21: Sean Manaea vs. MacKenzie Gore, 4:05 PM EDT on SNY
Manaea (2024): 32.0 IP, 37 K, 7 BB, 6 HR, 4.78 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 118 ERA-
It’s been a tale of two months for Manaea since his return. In four July starts, he posted a 2.08 ERA and a 2.94 FIP, with a 32.4% K% and a 5.8% BB%. In three August outings, he owns an unsightly 7.84 ERA and a 5.84 FIP, with a 21.7% K% and a 4.3% BB%. He’s allowed four earned runs in each of his last two starts and allowed five in the start before that, and he’s allowed 19 hits across those starts.
Gore (2024): 138.0 IP, 165 K, 45 BB, 17 HR, 4.04 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 96 ERA-
Gore was one of two Washington All-Stars this year alongside Wood, and for good reason. He enters play today with the fifth-best K% in the NL at 28.3%. However, while he as adept at striking people out, he also struggles with his command. He leads the NL with 12 wild pitches, and has the tenth-worst BB% in the NL (8.4%) among qualified starters. His numbers were really hurt by a brutal four-start stretch coming right out of the break, as he posted a 13.21 ERA and a 9.12 FIP between July 19 and August 5. However, he’s recovered with two very strong starts, shutting out the Giants over six innings while striking out ten and, most recently, holding the Phillies to two earned runs on four hits over six innings.