Washington, DC – Steve Lombardozzi hit the game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Washington Nationals rallied to down the New York Mets, 3-2, in the opener of a three-game set at Nationals Park.
Lombardozzi's fly ball scored Adam LaRoche, who drove in the game-tying run with a single earlier in the ninth.
"That's the first walk-off for me personally," Lombardozzi said, "those are the moments you dream about."
Bobby Parnell (4-2) took the hill for the Mets in the final inning holding a 2-1 lead. Ryan Zimmerman, though, opened up the action with a double to right- center. Zimmerman advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the tying run on LaRoche's RBI single through the right side.
Parnell remained in the game and served up a double to Ian Desmond, then was forced to intentionally walk Roger Bernadina to load the bases. That's when Lombardozzi battled through a lengthy at-bat and drove a slicing fly ball to left that easily plated the game-winner.
"They're a good-hitting team," Parnell added. "That's a good part of their lineup. I didn't walk them or anything like that."
Tyler Clippard (4-1) earned the win after relieving Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann in the top of the ninth.
Zimmermann, who is still searching for his ninth win of the season, lasted eight solid innings, allowing just four hits and two unearned runs with four strikeouts.
The Mets, who have dropped four straight, saw starter Jeremy Hefner allow one run on four hits while striking out seven over seven frames.
"It's a little tough, but I'll take Bobby any day," Hefner said.
New York made the most of a Washington miscue in the fifth and took a 2-1 lead on Omar Quintanilla's two-run triple down the right-field line.
Earlier in the frame, Rick Ankiel grounded into a fielder's choice. LaRoche tried to get the lead runner out at second, and his throw was off the mark for an error.
Hefner added to the rally with a sacrifice bunt, moving both runners to second and third, before Quintanilla's triple snuck past LaRoche and went into the corner in right.
New York, which looked to bounce back after dropping three games in Miami over the weekend, once again dealt with a shaky bullpen outing, depleting the team's chances in the late innings.
Desmond's one-out, line-drive homer to left -- his eighth of the year -- opened up the scoring in the second and puts the Nationals on top 1-0.
Game Notes
Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth, who was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday after being out since May 2, finished 1-for-4 ... The Nationals also placed second baseman Danny Espinosa on the 15-day DL, recalled infielder Anthony Rendon from Triple-A Syracuse, selected the contract of pitcher Ian Krol from Double-A Harrisburg and designated pitchers Henry Rodriguez and Zach Duke for assignment, all prior to Tuesday's game ... Zimmermann has not lost in his last 17 starts at Nationals Park ... The Nats won for the first time this season when trailing after six innings ... When scoring three or more runs this season, the Nationals are 25-6.
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