New York beat Washington 16-7 on May 18th with a 10-run 12th inning. Washington let Paxton Schultz work for a third straight day, eventually sent infielder Jorbit Vivas to the mound, and watched a tied game turn into a roster-management warning in one inning.
The Mets cashed in against a pitching staff that was already fraying before first pitch.
The Mets made history, but the Nationals gave them the opening
The Mets became the first National League team since 1919 to score double-digit runs in an extra inning, according to The Athletic.
The 12th started with the game tied at 6-6. It ended with Schultz charged with seven runs, six earned, while recording only one out.
Schultz had already pitched on May 16th and May 17th before Blake Butera asked him to work again on May 18. Across those three days, Schultz threw 61 pitches. He threw 17 against Baltimore on May 16th, 19 more on May 17th, then 25 against the Mets while trying to survive an inning that had already tilted.
Washington had reportedly avoided that usage pattern all season before this stretch.
Schultz’s third straight day turned into a bullpen stress test
The Athletic’s game story noted Washington broke its usual rule against using a reliever three days in a row. Once Schultz lost control of the inning, the Nationals had no clean way out.
The Mets’ scoring sequence kept applying pressure. Carson Benge, Vidal Bruján, Brett Baty, Marcus Semien, A.J. Ewing and Bo Bichette all drove in runs during the 12th.
The automatic runner rule can inflate extra innings quickly, but ten runs still require repeated failure. Washington gave the Mets too many hittable pitches, too many free advances and too little resistance once the inning cracked open.
Butera said postgame that the Nationals had “obviously just ran out of pitching.”
The Jorbit Vivas situation was legal but messy
MLB’s position-player pitching rules allow a position player to pitch in extra innings, which is why Washington could turn to Vivas in the 12th.
Washington had to move pieces around after sending an infielder to the mound. That led to an extended rules discussion, with Schultz briefly caught in the middle of the confusion before the change was allowed.
Vivas later said he did not know what was going on. Butera called the delay “very frustrating.”
By the time Vivas entered, Washington was just trying to get out of the inning without burning another pitcher.
Washington’s roster churn made the collapse feel less random
The Nationals had been cycling through pitching depth before the Mets arrived. Roster moves earlier in May included Orlando Ribalta being recalled, Zak Kent being shuffled back down, and Andrew Alvarez being brought up to provide length.
Clayton Beeter and Cole Henry were among the arms working back from injuries, with Max Kranick also part of the wider pitching-depth picture.
Andrew Alvarez had already been used for length before the series. Schultz had already worked back-to-back days. Once the 12th got away, Washington’s choices narrowed fast.
This can linger beyond one ugly box score
Managers can survive one extra-inning disaster when the bullpen is otherwise stable. Washington’s coverage behind the first choices looks thin after Monday.
The Mets hit into the softest part of the roster at the exact moment Washington needed structure. If the rotation does not start providing more length, the rest of the series can start feeling the effects immediately.
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