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Mets beat Nationals 7-1 behind 2 homers from Mauricio and 3-run drive by Ewing
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- Mets beat Nationals 7-1 behind 2 homers from Mauricio and 3-run drive by Ewing
WASHINGTON (AP) — A.J. Ewing hit a go-ahead, three-run homer, Ronny Mauricio went deep from both sides of the plate for his first career multi-homer game and the New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 7-1 on Saturday.
New York left fielder Juan Soto left the game in the ninth inning after he was hit on the right hand by a 91.7 mph sinker from Richard Lovelady . Mets manager Andy Green said X-rays were negative.
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Mets rookie Carson Benge had three hits for his 44th multihit game and 13th with three hits or more. Benge also made a sprawling, backhand catch in right field with two on in the third on Abimelec Ortiz 's sacrifice fly, a grab reminiscent of Ron Swoboda's against Baltimore 's Brooks Robinson in Game 4 of the 1969 World Series.
Ortiz's fly gave Washington a lead that stood until Ewing homered in the seventh on an 0-2 curveball from Jake Irvin (2-10), ending an 0-of-10 slide and putting the Mets ahead 3-1.
Mauricio connected on a fastball three pitches later for his first home run since May 1. Mets Nos. 8 and 9 hitters hit consecutive home runs for the third time this year. Mauricio added a two-run homer in the ninth.
Washington has allowed 22 home runs in the seventh inning or later that tied games or put opponents ahead, the most in the major leagues.
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Dedniel Nuñez (2-1) struck out the side in the sixth.
New York clinched its sixth straight season series against Washington at 7-5.
Starter Connelly Early made his Nationals debut, retiring nine of 10 batters while allowing one hit in three innings. The left-hander was acquired July 26 from Boston for Curtis Mead and activated from the injured list Saturday after recovering from left elbow inflammation.
Mets starter Jonah Tong struck out a career high nine, allowing three hits in five innings. The rookie finished 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in four starts and three relief appearances.
Up next
New York LHP Sean Manaea (6-7, 4.67 ERA) faces Washington LHP DJ Herz (0-1, 9.00) in Sunday's season finale, which was moved up two hours to 1:05 p.m. because of rain forecast later in the day.
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