It feels like anything that can go wrong will go wrong for the Mets these days.
Even for one of the select few in their lineup who are producing.
Exhibit A: Juan Soto smashed a high, soaring fly ball in the first inning of the Amazin’s game against the Nationals on Thursday afternoon that looked like it would clear the right field wall at Citi Field.
But there was the 6-foot-6 James Wood in right field for the Nationals, who made a terrific leaping catch that saw him extend over the fence to take away a would-be solo home run.
Soto smashed a 1-1 fastball from Nats starter Miles Mikolas 378 feet at 108.1 mph.
But the ball was high enough that Wood was able to ease back to the 370-foot marker on the fence before jumping high to snag the ball to deny Soto his third homer in as many games.
Soto, as he walked back to the dugout, smiled at Wood, almost as if in disbelief.
And in a 5-4 loss, that home run would have been helpful for a Mets team that is now 10-21 and firmly in last place in the National League East by 1 ½ games.
Fittingly, Wood was one of the key pieces the Nationals acquired at the 2022 trade deadline when they sent Soto to the Padres.
Wood’s defensive mastery wasn’t done, however, as he took away a potential hit from third baseman Bo Bichette in the fifth inning with a diving snag on a sinking line drive.
The play had a .777 expected batting average and had a 10 percent catch probability, according to MLB.com.
Soto finished the day 2-for-3 with two runs scored, coming inches away from a homer in the eighth when he banged a double high off the center field wall.
It wasn’t enough, as reliever Luke Weaver surrendered a go-ahead two-run homer to CJ Abrams and the Mets dropped their second straight series.
After winning three of five games in March, the Mets went 7-19 — with a 12-game losing streak — in April.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
