Zach Thornton, selected from Triple-A Syracuse<\/a> to replace Clay Holmes (fractured right fibula) in the rotation had a rough first inning, allowing a three-run homer, before getting on a roll following another run surrendered in the second. The left-hander retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced.<\/p>\nThornton kept the Mets competitive by allowing four earned runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 4 \u00b9\/\u2083 innings. He was removed at 80 pitches before he could face the Nationals a third time through the batting order.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s possible Thornton won\u2019t stay long: The Mets may promote Jonah Tong to start this weekend in Miami, giving extra rest to the rotation, and Thornton could lose his roster spot in the transaction.<\/p>\n
Mets starting pitcher Zach Thornton (49) pitches in his major league debut against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park on May 20, 2026. Geoff Burke-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
A day after Nick Morabito debuted for the Mets, the rookie was on the bench as manager Carlos Mendoza started MJ Melendez against right-hander Zack Littell.<\/p>\n
Thornton was welcomed to the major leagues with CJ Abrams\u2019 three-run homer in the first inning. Curtis Mead singled and Andr\u00e9s Chaparo walked before Abrams unloaded to right-center.<\/p>\n
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The Mets pulled to within 3-1 in the second on Brett Baty\u2019s RBI single after Mark Vientos doubled leading off. A.J. Ewing provided an additional single in the inning before Littell struck out Hayden Senger.<\/p>\n
Nasim Nu\u00f1ez walked in the second and stole second, reaching third when Senger\u2019s throw sailed into the outfield. Keibert Ruiz\u2019s ensuing RBI single extended the Nationals\u2019 lead to 4-1.<\/p>\n
But the Mets reclaimed the run in the third on Soto\u2019s massive blast off the mezzanine in right.<\/p>\n
CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals tosses hit bat after hitting a three-run home run against the New York Mets during the first inning at Nationals Park on May 20, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n
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Carson Benge\u2019s arm helped save the Mets a run in the fifth. Luis Garcia Jr. stroked a two-out single to right field, on which Benge threw a strike to Senger, who tagged Ruiz sliding into the plate for the final out. Ruiz doubled for the Nationals\u2019 final base runner against Thornton.<\/p>\n
Austin Warren surrendered a run in the sixth that extended the Nationals\u2019 lead to 5-2. Abrams and Dylan Crews both singled before Daylen Lile hit a sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n
Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s sacrifice bunt brought in the Nationals\u2019 sixth run after Jacob Young\u2019s double. Craig Kimbrel got the final two outs in the sixth.<\/p>\n
New York Mets\u2019 Juan Soto (22) celebrates his two-run home run next to Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Washington. AP Photo\/Nick Wass<\/p>\n
Nationals second baseman Nasim Nu\u00f1ez (26) steals second base as New York Mets second baseman Marcus Semien (10) attempts to catch a throw during the second inning at Nationals Park. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Young hit a two-run homer against Kimbrel in the eighth that completed the Nationals\u2019 scoring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 The rookie pitcher debuting in the major leagues gave the Mets a chance on Wednesday. So…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2398],"tags":[5,134,4,415,61,185,414,71,4222],"class_list":["post-704475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-washington-nationals","tag-baseball","tag-juan-soto","tag-mlb","tag-nationals","tag-new-york-mets","tag-sports","tag-washington","tag-washington-nationals","tag-washingtonnationals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116610182915278811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}