Jeff McNeil of the Mets reacts after his 10th-inning game-winning...

Jeff McNeil of the Mets reacts after his 10th-inning game-winning hit against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac

After the high drama of their series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, and the high altitude of their three-game sweep of the pitiful Rockies in Denver, the Mets returned to Citi Field on Tuesday night to take on the improving Nationals.

It was more high times for the Mets.

The Mets, who spotted Washington the game’s first three runs, tied it in the eighth on two-out RBIs by Juan Soto and Pete Alonso and walked it off in the 10th on Jeff McNeil’s first-pitch RBI single to win their fourth in a row, 5-4, before 38,472 at Citi Field.

McNeil’s 68.7-mph double to right easily scored ghost runner/ pinch runner Luisangel Acuna for the Mets’ sixth walkoff win of the season. The Mets have won 13 of 15 and are a season-high 19 games over .500 at 43-24.

“We’re never out of any game,” said McNeil (2-for-4, two RBIs), who had two homers in the series final in Denver on Sunday. “This is a good group of guys. We’re playing well. It’s just a lot of fun. We have a lot of confidence in each other and we’re going to keep it going.”

With the Mets trailing 4-2 in the eighth, Starling Marte drew a two-out walk against lefthander Jose A. Ferrer after falling behind 0-and-2. Manager Carlos Mendoza called it “the at-bat of the game.”

There were three more of those to come.

 

Soto fell behind 0-and-2, too, but then ripped a 107-mph, run-scoring double to right that handcuffed and skipped past an indecisive, late-diving Robert Hassell III.

Next up, with the crowd on its feet, was Alonso against closer Kyle Finnegan. Alonso lined a 110-mph game-tying single off the leftfield wall, but was thrown out at second to end the inning.

No matter. Edwin Diaz struck out two in the ninth and, after the Mets didn’t walk it off in the bottom half, Reed Garrett (2-2) worked around the ghost runner in the top of the 10th for the victory. The Mets bullpen put up 4 2/3 scoreless innings after starter Griffin Canning allowed four runs in 5 1/3.

“After the first or second inning, Pete kinda came by me and said they were going to pick me up,” Canning said. “So I think that kind of says it all right there.”

Nathaniel Lowe hit a two-run homer in the first and CJ Abrams had an RBI double in the second as Washington jumped out to a 3-0 lead. It could have been worse, but Soto threw out Jose Tena at the plate on the double to end the inning.

Six of the first 11 Nationals batters had a hit against Canning, who then retired seven in a row before Abrams hit a solo shot in the fifth after the Mets had gotten to within a run.

The Mets had closed to within 3-2 on an RBI single by McNeil in the second and an opposite-field home run by Soto in the third. It was Soto’s 12th home run and came off lefthander MacKenzie Gore.

Gore and Abrams were two of the young players the Nationals got back when they traded Soto to San Diego in 2022. So were outfielders Hassell and James Wood, both of whom were in the lineup for the Nationals.

Soto and Gore jawed at each other during the at-bat and Soto stared the pitcher down during his trip around the bases.

“We were saying hi to each other,” Soto said. “That’s it.”

Soto’s back. McNeil’s back. The Mets are back (at Citi Field, where they are 25-7).

“This team keeps grinding away,” owner Steve Cohen posted on X. “Relentless!”

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