Josh Bell’s homer, rookie Cole Henry’s clutch relief help Nationals beat Mets 5-4

WASHINGTON (AP) — Josh Bell homered and drove in two runs, rookie reliever Cole Henry pitched out of a jam in the sixth inning and the Washington Nationals held on to beat the Mets 5-4 on Wednesday night, ending New York’s three-game winning streak.

Bell’s 16th homer was a 420-foot line drive to the right-field stands in the fifth against the struggling Kodai Senga (7-5), who allowed five funs (four earned) in five-plus innings.

New York’s Brett Baty hit his 15th homer, a 455-foot rocket in the fifth. Nationals right fielder Dylan Crews stood still as the ball flew into the second deck.

Rookie Brad Lord (4-6) pitched five sharp innings for the Nationals before losing his command in the sixth. He walked the first two batters, then gave up back-to-back one-out doubles to Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil that got the Mets within 5-4. Henry came in and worked around a throwing error by third baseman Paul DeJong, retiring Cedric Mullins on a popup and Luis Torrens on a grounder to strand the bases loaded.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara pitched a perfect seventh, Clayton Beeter did the same in the eighth and Jose A. Ferrer worked the ninth for his third save.

Nationals interim manager Miguel Cairo was ejected by plate umpire Todd Tichenor in the top of the sixth.

Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo exited in the second inning with a stiff neck.

Key moment

The Nationals loaded the bases in the third on two walks and a catcher’s interference. Their first hit of the night was an RBI infield single by CJ Abrams, and Bell followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

Key stat

Senga has allowed 18 earned runs over 27 innings in his past six starts for a 6.00 ERA.

Up next

In a matchup of lefties, Sean Manaea (1-1, 4.78 ERA) starts for the Mets against the Nationals’ MacKenzie Gore (5-12, 4.04) as the series concludes on Thursday.

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