The New York Mets (79-74) look to build off their series win and move closer to securing a playoff spot as they welcome the Washington Nationals (62-91)
to Citi Field for three games. The Mets have won six of ten games against the Nats this year, including all three games they’ve played at Citi Field. Given the importance of these games and the timing in the season, they’ll hope to replicate that result this time around.The Mets got their first series win since Detroit as they took two of three against
the San Diego Padres at Citi Field. They alternated wins during the series, starting with an 8-3 victory on Tuesday night. The Mets deployed their piggyback strategy to perfection, as Clay Holmes (4 innings) and Sean Manaea (5 innings) combined to get the team a win. On offense, the Mets jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead in the first, including an absolute moonshot from Brett Baty to cap off the scoring. The Mets got homers from Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso later in the game as well.
The Mets were handed a 7-4 loss on Wednesday as the Padres evened up the series. The game was close until Manny Machado unloaded on a grand slam against David Peterson to make it 6-2. The Mets got solo homers from (in order) Alonso, Starling Marte, Juan Soto, and Francisco Alvarez—the latter hit off the top of the wall and had to be reviewed before being overturned. The Mets came within inches of tying it, as Soto hit an opposite field shot that just missed striking the left field foul pole. So it goes.
The Mets bounced back with a 6-1 victory on Thursday afternoon to secure the series victory. Jonah Tong recovered from his catastrophic start last Friday by going five innings, striking out eight, and allowing just one unearned run. The Mets jumped out in front in the first, as Alonso hit his fourth home run in as many games. Brandon Nimmo’s three-run blast later in the game blew this one open, and the Mets cruised from there as the bullpen hurled four scoreless innings. Soto crossed the 100-RBI mark, becoming just the third player in MLB history (along with Jeff Bagwell and Barry Bonds) to have 40+ homers, 30+ stolen bases, 100+ runs batted in, and 100+ walks in a season.
The win opened up a two-game cushion on the Diamondbacks, who were off yesterday. It’s especially important because Arizona carries the tiebreaker over New York, so any advantage is critical towards clinching a spot in the 2025 MLB postseason. Meanwhile, the Reds won and the Giants lost on Thursday, meaning the Mets remain two up on Cincinnati (who own the tiebreaker on New York) while gaining a game and going three up on the fading Giants (Mets own the tiebreaker here).
One especially encouraging sign for New York as of late has been Baty’s play. The infielder has had an up-and-down season, but he has been playing his best ball when it’s mattered most. Since August 1, he is third on the team with a 157 wRC+ (behind only Soto’s 187 and Lindor’s 162, ahead of Alonso’s 155). In that stretch, he has six homers, 21 runs scored, and is slashing .325/.389/.518 in 37 games. This is especially important for Baty as he looks to impress the club and work towards earning a starting spot on the 2026 squad.
The Nationals come into this series after getting swept at home against the Braves. Prior to that, they had won two of three against the Pirates at home. The Nationals currently sit at 91 losses, which matches the number of losses they had in 2023 and in 2024. The Nats have secured their fifth straight 90-loss season and their sixth-straight losing season after winning the World Series in 2019.
That’s not surprising, since the Nationals own a 92 wRC+ on the season, which is third-worst in the National League, while their 647 runs scored is also third-worst in the league. Meanwhile, their rotation sports a 5.18 ERA, the second-worst in the NL, while their bullpen’s 5.56 ERA is worst in the NL. Washington will hang their hats on their two young stars, who have been great for this year. James Wood is slashing .256/.351/.464 with a team-high 27 homers and 89 runs batted in. He also leads the club with a 125 wRC+ and is second with a 3.0 fWAR in a team-leading 149 games. CJ Abrams, meanwhile, leads the club with a 3.2 fWAR and 89 runs scored (Wood is second with 82 runs scored). He is hitting .260/.321/.432 with 17 home runs, 55 runs batted in, a team-high 31 stolen bases, and a 109 wRC+ in 136 games.
Friday, September 19: Brandon Sproat vs. Andrew Alvarez, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Sproat (2025): 12.0 IP, 10 K, 4 BB, 0 HR, 2.25 ERA, 2.48 FIP, 55 ERA-
Sproat is still in search of his first major league win after giving the Mets six shutout inning his last time out but watching the bullpen blow his lead late. He gave up six hits, struck out three, and did not walk a batter. It was another solid start to kick off Sproat’s promising career, but the Mets have lost both of his starts 3-2. Unfortunately, the Mets gave up two in the eighth to deprive him of his first victory.
Alvarez (2025): 15.1 IP, 11 K, 6 BB, 1 HR, 1.15 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 27 ERA-
Alvarez is making his fourth career start, and it’s hard to draw up a better start to a major league career—well, this side of Nolan McLean. The left-hander was drafted in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB Draft and was the Minor League Pitcher of the Year for Washington in 2023. He finally got the call on September 1 and hurled five innings of shut out, one-hit ball to earn the win against the Marlins, becoming the second Nationals starter in the past 15 years to win his major league debut. He followed that up by allowing two earned runs over 4 2/3 innings in a no decision against the Cubs, and in his last outing shut out the Pirates over six innings while also settling for a no decision. His one weakness is walks, as he’s issued six free passes over his three outings so far.
Saturday, September 20: Nolan McLean vs. Cade Cavalli, 4:10 PM EDT on SNY
McLean (2025): 37.2 IP, 40 K, 12 BB, 1 HR, 1.19 ERA, 2.49 FIP, 29 ERA-
McLean continued the downright unreal start to his major league career, lowering his ERA to 1.19 over his first six starts. He did that by hurling six shutout frames, scattering five hits while striking out seven and walking two. Like Sproat, he lost the opportunity to earn his fifth career win when the bullpen allowed two runs in the seventh. Despite that, he became the first pitcher in MLB history to own an ERA under 1.20 and 40+ strikeouts in his first six starts. He keeps wracking up these type of stats, and he’s showing no signs of slowing. If he keeps going at this pace, he’ll easily earn a spot in the team’s postseason rotation, should they make it.
Cavalli (2025): 39.2 IP, 31 K, 13 BB, 6 HR, 4.76 ERA, 4.84 FIP, 112 ERA-
It’s been a long road back to the majors for Cavalli, whom the Nats selected 22nd overall in the 2020 MLB Draft. He made one appearance in 2022 and was set to break through into the rotation in 2023 but ended up spraining the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow in a spring training start against the Mets, which resulted in Tommy John surgery. He missed all of 2023 and only made two minor league appearances in 2024 due to various issues, and after spending much of 2025 in the minors, he finally made his return after over 1,000 days. He’s made eight starts so far and, aside from a disastrous start against the Yankees in which he allowed eight runs (seven earned) over 2 1/3 innings, he’s been pretty solid. His last time out, he allowed three earned runs on three hits in five innings of work against the Pirates. He did walk a season high four in that outing. It is worth calling out his first career victory, when he hurled seven shutout innings against the playoff-bound Phillies on August 16.
Sunday, September 21: Clay Holmes vs. Mitchell Parker, 1:40 PM EDT on SNY
Holmes (2025): 155.0 IP, 124 K, 63 BB, 14 HR, 3.77 ERA, 4.19 FIP, 92 ERA-
For the second time, the Mets piggybacked Holmes with Sean Manaea, and for the second time it worked like a charm. Holmes, who has more than doubled his career high in innings pitched in a single season, hurled four innings of two-run ball, after which Manaea came in to complete the final five innings to pick up the win. The Mets seem destined to do the same thing on Sunday, although with Manaea hitting the paternity list, it may not be possible to piggyback him with Holmes this time. It remains to be seen how the team approaches Sunday’s game.
Parker (2025): 158.1 IP, 101 K, 57 BB, 25 HR, 5.85 ERA, 5.08 FIP, 138 ERA-
Parker has had a really bad year for the Nationals. He currently leads the NL with 16 losses and is sporting an ERA close to six. He has the worst ERA among all major league pitchers with at least 150 innings under their belt in 2025, and the second-worst FIP behind teammate Jake Irvin. His 5.74 K/9 is also the worst among starting pitchers using the same criteria, while his 1.42 HR/9 is seventh-worst and his 3.24 BB/9 is 17th worst. His last time out, he allowed ten hits and six earned runs in five innings against the Braves.
