J.D. Martinez and Jose Iglesias on Monday night homered in a six-run 10th inning, as the New York Mets held off the Washington Nationals 9-7 to spoil the major league debut of prized outfield prospect James Wood.
Francisco Alvarez had three RBIs and two extra-base hits for the Mets (41-41), who stopped a two-game skid and improved to 17-6 in their past 23 games.
In the opener of a four-game series between National League East foes, Harrison Bader was hit by pitch leading off the 10th to put two runners on. Martinez followed with his 10th homer, snapping an 0-for-12 slump with a drive to center field against Hunter Harvey (2-4).
Photo: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY
“I’m just trying to get something up because the last thing I wanted to do is swing at that splitter in the dirt,” Martinez said.
Tyrone Taylor doubled with two outs and scored on Alvarez’s first career triple, which hit high off the right-field wall. Iglesias made it 9-3 when he greeted Jordan Weems with a two-run shot to center for his first big league homer since July 13, 2022, with the Colorado Rockies.
“After the three-run homer, [we] continued with really good at-bats, continued to put pressure, and that was the difference in the ballgame,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Washington scored four times in the bottom half before Reed Garrett struck out Luis Garcia Jr with two on for his fourth save.
Washington’s top prospect, the 21-year-old Wood was called up from Triple-A Rochester earlier in the day. He singled in his first plate appearance and later reached on an error, finishing one for four with a walk.
A native of nearby Olney, Maryland, Wood was acquired in the August 2022 blockbuster trade that sent Juan Soto to San Diego.
“Unique,” Wood said when asked for one word to describe his debut. “It’s just like the first time doing something, something you’ve never done before, playing in front of a crowd like that and obviously in the major leagues.”
After receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of 26,719 in the bottom of the second, Wood fell behind 1-2, worked the count full and then lined an opposite-field single into left-center against Mets starter David Peterson.
“I was just kind of looking for a fastball,” Wood said. “His fastball runs, it’s got a run and sink on it. I was trying to push it up and away, especially after I swung through the one down, and then I was just able to get one.”
One of baseball’s highest-rated prospects, the 2m-tall, 106kg outfielder was hitting .353 with 10 home runs, 37 RBIs and a 1.058 OPS in the minors.
Elsewhere, Hunter Brown pitched six shutout innings, and Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alavarez hit home runs, as the Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 for their 10th win in 11 games.
Decked out in special red jerseys and caps, the Blue Jays lost on Canada Day for a second year in a row.
In Denver, Colorado, Jake Cave came through with a bases-loaded single over a five-man infield in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Rockies an 8-7 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS