Nationals Rally Past Mets After James Wood Inside-the-Park Slam

The Washington Nationals overcame a five-run deficit to defeat the New York Mets 9-6 on Tuesday night, powered by a rare inside-the-park grand slam from James Wood. The victory at Nationals Park prevented a three-game losing streak for Washington.

Wood’s pivotal hit came with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning, with the Nationals trailing 5-0. He sent a first-pitch sweeper from Mets starter Nolan McLean deep to left-center field. The ball glanced off the glove of a leaping Nick Morabito, a rookie making his major league debut, and caromed into center field. Wood circled the bases in 15.15 seconds, sliding home well ahead of the throw to complete his first career grand slam.

The play marked the first inside-the-park grand slam in Major League Baseball since July 2022 and was the ninth such occurrence since 1994. It was also the second in Nationals franchise history since the team moved to Washington in 2005.

Washington’s rally continued in the third inning. José Tena led off with a solo home run. Later in the inning, CJ Abrams scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball by Mets catcher Luis Torrens, and a sacrifice fly by Jorbit Vivas extended the lead...