WASHINGTON (AP) — Center fielder Alex Call made a pair of outstanding defensive plays in the ninth inning, preserving the Washington Nationals' 3-2 win Sunday and dealing the slumping New York Mets their 14th loss in 20 games.
In the completion of a game suspended in the third inning after a 3-hour, 56-minute rain delay on Saturday night, CJ Abrams broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh with a home run off Dominic Leone (0-1), who lost in his first decision with the Mets.
Call perfectly played the carom off the wall on Michael Pérez's two-out drive in the ninth off Kyle Finnegan holding Pérez to a single.
Brandon Nimmo followed with a single and major league batting champion Jeff McNeil hit a fly that Call tracked down just in front of the wall for the final out, giving Finnegan his eighth save in 10 chances.
New York, with a major league-leading $355 million payroll, fell to 19-21. The Mets went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners.
Call also made a nice running catch for the final out of the seventh on Francisco Lindor's deep drive off Hunter Harvey (2-0), who pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings.
Pérez went 4 for 4 with his second career four-hit game. The other was for Pittsburgh against Milwaukee last June 30.
In Sunday's regularly scheduled game, Max Scherzer (2-2) was to start for the Mets and Jake Irvin (1-0) for the Nationals.
Two of Abrams’ three homers this season have come against the Mets — he hit his first career grand slam April 27 at New York. Abrams also had an RBI single in the fourth.
Nimmo hit a tying sacrifice fly in the third on the first pitch of the day from reliever Erasmo Ramírez and doubled ahead of McNeil's sacrifice fly in the seventh.
MOVES
Mets LHP Joey Lucchesi, who started on Friday night, was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse and New York selected the contract of RHP Dennis Santana from Triple-A Syracuse. Santana pitched a one-hit eighth. RHP Seth Elledge was designated for assignment.
UP NEXT
LHP David Peterson (1-5, 7.68) is to start Monday's finale of the four-game series for the Mets and LHP Patrick Corbin (1-5, 4.87) for the Nationals.
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