Jeff McNeil, Austin Jackson Slug First Home Runs in Nationals 25-4 Blowout
The Mets and Nationals started a quick, two-game series on Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. and it was over as soon as it started. Washington put up seven runs in the first inning and never looked back. By the time the game was over, the Nationals had banged out 26 hits and scored 25 runs to bring them back to 53-53 on the season. As for the Mets, they managed just four runs on nine hits.
While it truly was ALL Nats in this game, it should be noted that two different Mets’ players had firsts: Jeff McNeil and Austin Jackson.
Jeff McNeil, playing in just his seventh MLB game, blasted his first-ever major league home run. The blast came in the top of the seventh, cutting the Nationals lead to 19-1. Listening on the radio since I had already left the ballpark, the announcers noted that Tanner Roark (the pitcher who gave up the homer) made sure that McNeil got the ball as a keepsake. In the video below, you can see Roark tossing the ball to McNeil. What a good dude…
Then in the top of the ninth, Jackson slugged his first home run this season and as a member of the Mets. Jackson was picked up by New York just a few days ago and has four hits in eight at-bats. Earlier this season, he played 59 games with the San Francisco Giants, hitting .242 (36-for-149) with zero homers.
Against his former team, Daniel Murphy homered twice and drove in six runs for the Nationals.