Washington Nationals vs New York Mets Box Score on Jul 27, 2023

Daniel Vogelbach and Mark Canha each had an RBI during a rain-delayed eighth inning Thursday night for the host New York Mets, who beat the Washington Nationals 2-1 in the opener of a four-game series.

With Washington up 1-0, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso singled with one out off Mason Thompson before Vogelbach hit the game-tying single, after which DJ Stewart was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

A rain delay of 1 hour, 37 minutes followed. When play resumed, Canha greeted reliever Kyle Finnegan by hitting a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Alonso from third.

David Peterson (3-7) tossed two scoreless innings of relief for the Mets, who are 6-6 since the All-Star break. Brooks Raley earned his second save by working around a two-out walk in the ninth.

Canha had a pair of singles, making him the only player on either team to collect multiple hits.

Keibert Ruiz lofted a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning for the Nationals, who lost for just the second time in seven games. Thompson (3-4), Washington's fourth pitcher of the night, took the loss.

Mets starter Kodai Senga gave up one run on two hits and three walks while striking out five over six innings. Nationals starter Josiah Gray surrendered two hits and walked three while striking out four in six scoreless innings.

The Nationals got just one runner beyond first base against Senga in the first five innings before building their run in the sixth. CJ Abrams drew a leadoff walk and stole second one out later before Jeimer Candelario reached on catcher's interference. Joey Meneses followed with a single to load the bases, and Abrams trotted home on Ruiz's flyout to right.

The Mets left the bases loaded against Gray in the second, when Brandon Nimmo flied out to deep left to end the inning. Canha, who singled with two outs in the fourth and took second on Gray's errant pickoff attempt, was the only other New York baserunner to get into scoring position against the right-hander.

--Field Level Media