Mets broke the Nationals after 12 innings: ten runs in the final attack decided the game in Washington
The New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 16:7 after 12 innings in an MLB regular-season game played on May 18, 2026, at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The final score does not show how even the matchup was for most of the evening: the teams were tied 5:5 after nine innings, in the 11th inning they exchanged one run each, and the decision came only in the 12th inning, when the Mets scored as many as ten runs. According to MLB’s official game record, the visitors finished with 18 hits and no defensive errors, while the Nationals had 12 hits and four errors.
For the Mets, it was a victory that came in an unusual way, after several turnarounds, missed chances and a long draining of both bullpens. Washington took an early lead, New York turned the game around in the middle innings, the home team came back in the closing stages, and extra innings brought a series of situations in which every ball could have decided the game. Only the attack in the 12th inning completely opened up the game and turned a tight duel into a convincing victory for the team from New York.
Washington took the lead, Mets fought back through the middle of the game
The Mets were the first to score in the second inning, when Luis Torrens hit a two-base hit to bring Tyrone Taylor to home plate. The lead did not last long. According to MLB’s chronology of the matchup, José Tena tied the game with a two-base hit in the bottom of the second inning, and Drew Millas then brought the Nationals a 2:1 lead with a single. Washington increased the lead to 3:1 in the third inning when Joey Wiemer hit an RBI double against Mets starter Christian Scott.
New York began cutting the deficit in the fourth inning. Brett Baty hit a solo home run, his third of the season, and MLB stated that the hit traveled 451 feet, making it the second-longest home run of his career. That moment not only brought the Mets back into the game but also suggested that the visitors’ offense had enough power to put pressure on Washington’s pitchers. In the fifth inning, Juan Soto hit a two-run single and the Mets turned it around to 4:3. Bo Bichette added a solo home run in the seventh inning for 5:3, making it seem that New York was entering the final stretch with control over the matchup.
However, the Nationals responded precisely in the part of the game in which the Mets bullpen was expected to lock down the lead. In the seventh inning, CJ Abrams reduced the score to 5:4 with a sacrifice hit, and in the eighth inning Curtis Mead tied it with a double at 5:5. That sent the game into the final part without a clear favorite, with tired pitchers and increasing pressure on the defenses, which in extra innings had to work under the automatic runner rule on second base.
Extra innings brought new opportunities and missed chances
The tenth inning passed without a run, although both teams had a chance to take advantage of the starting position of the runner in the extra inning. Huascar Brazobán, who according to the official scoresheet recorded the win, was especially important in the bottom of the tenth inning. Washington then threatened with the bases loaded, but the Mets pitcher escaped the inning without allowing a run. MLB’s game story notes that Brazobán also avoided danger in the 11th inning, which allowed the Mets to get another attack.
New York took a 6:5 lead in the top of the 11th inning on Marcus Semien’s sacrifice hit. The Nationals, however, found an answer again. Joey Wiemer tied the game at 6:6 in the bottom of the same inning, so the matchup went into the 12th inning. That moment was important because it was already the second time late in the game that the Mets had a lead they failed to preserve. At the same time, Washington failed to complete the comeback and punish the visitors in situations in which it had runners in promising positions.
By the 12th inning, the game already had all the elements of a long and unpredictable divisional duel: an early surge by the home team, the visitors’ comeback, late equalizers, a burdened bullpen and several dramatic defensive escapes from trouble. What followed was much rarer. In one inning, the Mets changed the entire picture of the game and went from a 6:6 score to a lead that Washington could no longer threaten.
Ten runs in the 12th inning decided the matchup
The key attack opened in the top of the 12th inning against Paxton Schultz, who according to MLB’s official scoresheet recorded the loss. Carson Benge hit a single for a 7:6 lead, giving the Mets their third lead in extra innings. Vidal Bruján then increased it to 8:6 with a bunt single, and Brett Baty’s two-run hit sent New York to 10:6. Marcus Semien added an RBI single for 11:6, so Washington had to turn to additional solutions on the mound.
After that, according to the report from Amazin' Avenue and MLB’s chronology, Jorbit Vivas appeared as a position player in the role of pitcher. The Mets continued to attack against him as well. A.J. Ewing increased the lead to 12:6 with a single, Benge brought in two more runs with a double for 14:6, and Bo Bichette set the score at 16:6 with a two-base hit. In only one inning, the Mets scored more runs than in the previous 11 innings combined, and the attack stretched long enough to completely exhaust the home team.
Washington reduced the score to 16:7 through James Wood in the bottom of the 12th inning, but that no longer changed the outcome. Craig Kimbrel finished the game for the Mets, and the final hit ratio, 18:12 for New York, shows how much the visitors’ offense expanded in the closing stages. The Nationals’ four errors additionally complicated the home team’s attempt to stay in the game until the end.
Baty, Benge, Bichette and Semien marked the Mets offense
The Mets had several standout offensive figures in this game. Brett Baty hit a home run in the fourth inning, and in the 12th inning he added an important two-run single. Carson Benge was one of the key players of the finish because he first brought the lead in the 12th inning and then hit a double for two additional runs. Bo Bichette, according to MLB’s chronology, hit a solo home run in the seventh inning and a two-run double in the final surge.
Marcus Semien also had an important role in extra innings. In the 11th inning, he brought the Mets a 6:5 lead with a sacrifice hit, and in the 12th inning he continued the hitting streak with a single that made the matchup unreachable for Washington. Juan Soto earlier in the game turned the result in New York’s favor with a two-run RBI single, while Luis Torrens opened the visitors’ scoring in the second inning. The breadth of the offense was decisive because the Mets did not depend on one hit but built pressure through almost the entire lineup.
For the Nationals, José Tena, Drew Millas, Joey Wiemer, Curtis Mead and James Wood stood out, each bringing runs or extending the home team’s hope in different phases of the game. Wiemer was especially important, as he had already increased the lead in the third inning and brought the equalizer in the 11th. Washington, however, paid the price for weaker defense and the inability to stop the Mets offense when the game entered its most sensitive phase.
The result also important because of the situation in the NL East division
According to MLB’s official scoreboard, the Mets were 21-26 after this victory, while the Nationals fell to 23-25. Both teams play in the NL East division, where every head-to-head matchup carries additional weight, especially during the part of the season when the standings are still taking shape and continuity is being sought. For New York, the victory is valuable psychologically as well, because it came after situations in which the team could have lost control of the game. Instead, the visitors found the biggest offensive surge of the evening in the longest and most uncertain phase.
For Washington, the defeat is difficult because the home team came back into the game twice and had chances to punish the Mets in extra innings. The Nationals managed to neutralize the visitors’ leads in the closing innings, but they did not have enough firmness in the 12th inning. When the game entered the phase in which every defensive error and every missed out carried greater weight, the Mets patiently turned pressure into runs. Such defeats can be especially unpleasant because the final score looks convincing, although most of the matchup was completely open.
In the broader context of the season, the game showed two opposite sides of both teams. The Mets demonstrated offensive depth and the ability to survive crisis situations on the mound, but at the same time they allowed Washington to come back after leads of 5:3 and 6:5. The Nationals showed resilience and the ability to return to the game, but the finish highlighted problems with damage control when the opponent begins stringing hits together. That is exactly why this duel will be remembered most for the 12th inning, although the road to it was equally important for understanding the final outcome.
A game that changes its impression with one attack
Baseball often produces results that conceal the real dynamics of a matchup, and the duel in Washington was exactly such an example. The final 16:7 points to a one-sided victory, but the Mets had to go through an early deficit, a late equalizer, extra innings and two home-team threats before the decisive inning. Washington was an equal opponent until the 12th inning, but the visitors’ final surge turned the game into one of the most unusual scoring conclusions of the evening.
According to MLB’s official game story, New York received key hits in order in the 12th inning from Benge, Bruján, Baty, Semien, Ewing, Benge again and Bichette. That sequence shows how collective the final attack was, not the result of one isolated move. The Mets used every sign of insecurity in the home bullpen and finished the matchup without a defensive error, which in a long 12-inning game was just as important as the offensive explosion.
The Nationals will be able to take comebacks and several quality offensive reactions from this game, but the final impression remains tied to the failure to stop the 12th inning. The Mets, on the other hand, take away a victory that may have greater value than one item in the standings, because it came after an evening in which they had to save the game several times. In a 162-game season, such matchups do not decide everything, but they often reveal the character of a team and the depth of the roster in moments when the usual game plan falls apart.
Sources:
- MLB.com – official scoreboard of the New York Mets - Washington Nationals game, score by innings, hit and error ratio and winning and losing pitcher (link)
- MLB.com – official game story and chronology of key actions on May 18, 2026 (link)
- Amazin' Avenue – game report and additional description of the matchup flow after 12 innings (link)