QUEENS, NEW YORK - SEPTEMER 21 - The Washington Nationals earned their sixth and final win of 2025 over the Mets today on the heels of an insane defensive performance by Jacob Young. While the game had some bumps, the Nationals did just enough to earn the victory.

On the mound, Jake Irvin had a day with a gritty 5⅓ innings, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks. He handed off a one-run lead to Mitchell Parker, who authored a throwback, 3⅔-inning save: two hits, no walks, two strikeouts, and a whole lot of nerve. It was Washington’s first save of more than three innings since the franchise moved to D.C., underscoring just how rare (and valuable) Parker’s length was in closing out a 3–2 win at Citi Field. Irvin notched his first victory since July 27, snapping a personal skid, while Parker’s efficiency (53 pitches, 38 for strikes) let manager Miguel Cairo avoid a taxed bullpen entirely.

At the plate, the Nationals made their early chances count. With one out in the second, Jorge Alfaro rifled a double to left and scored when Francisco Lindor’s throwing error turned Daylen Lile’s single into the game’s first run. Nasim Nuñez followed by ambushing a Sean Manaea offering for a two-run homer to left-center, his third of the season, to make it 3–0. That was enough cushion against a Mets lineup that scratched across single runs in the third and sixth (Cedric Mullins’s RBI single; Lindor’s solo shot). Washington finished with nine hits. Alfaro (2-for-4), Nuñez (2-for-4), and Jacob Young (1-for-3) among the contributors against Manaea and a string of relievers, but the story was ruthless situational hitting in the second frame.

Still, this one turned on leather. Young authored two defining plays in center: a juggling, against-the-wall snag to steal extra bases from Brett Baty in the fifth, and a flat-out home-run robbery of Francisco Álvarez in the ninth that yanked a would-be game-tying shot back into the park. Those moments didn’t just make the highlight reels, but they protected Irvin’s win and Parker’s marathon save, while deflating a massive, playoff-hungry crowd. The ripple effects are immediate: New York’s loss, paired with other results, left the Mets knotted for the final NL wild-card slot, tightening their margin for error in the season’s final week. For Washington, it’s a tidy two-game streak, a spoiler’s satisfaction, and another proof point that speed and defense travel. However, it was not all sunshine and rainbows as Daylen Lile departed with an injury.

Up next:

The Nationals hit the road to Atlanta for a three-game set beginning Monday, September 22, with MacKenzie Gore slated to face Chris Sale at Truist Park. It’s a heavyweight test for a young club that’s clearly still scrapping to the finish line, and another opportunity to stress elite run prevention while hunting timely swings from the likes of James Wood, Dylan Crews, and today’s standouts. If Washington keeps pairing competent starting pitching with airtight defense (and if Parker’s extended save buys the bullpen a breather) they’ll be positioned to make life similarly uncomfortable for the Braves and close their season on an upswing.