A.J. Ewing’s home run give Mets win over Nationals, Tong finishes strong

Brett Baty , who notably started at shortstop today while Francisco Lindor served as the team's designated hitter, single in the top of the eighth, prompting an error by Nationals shortstop Nasim Nuñez that allowed Carson Benge to score the team's fifth run of the day.

Mauricio hit another home run, a two-run shot in the top of the ninth while hitting right-handed after hitting his first home run while batting left-handed. Those two home runs weren't enough to salvage his major league stat line for the season, but if that's how he ends the season, it's a good note on which to do so.

Jonah Tong fared very well in his final start of the season, as he gave up just the one aforementioned run, struck out nine, walked one, gave up three hits, and threw 87 pitches in five innings of work. It's a small sample, certainly, but Tong finishes the major league portion of his season with a 3.82 ERA and a 3.30 FIP in 30.2 innings. And while Mets manager Andy Green made it clear before the game that Tong is not guaranteed a spot in the rotation heading into the 2027 season, as a fan, you'd much rather see Tong put up the numbers that he did this year than the ones he did when he was called up late in the 2025 season.