Daniel Murphy homered in the 10th inning and the Nationals bullpen followed Stephen Strasburg with five scoreless innings, lifting Washington over the New York Mets 4-3 on Saturday night after Noah Syndergaard's return.
Murphy led off the 10th with his 23rd home run of the season, taking reliever Jacob Rhame (0-1) deep with a shot that clanked off the home-run apple in center field. It was Murphy's ninth homer against the Mets, and he is hitting .393 (53 for 135) with 35 RBIs in 37 games versus his former team.
Syndergaard (1-2) started for New York and pitched a scoreless inning. It was his first action in the majors since partially tearing his right lat muscle on April 30. Matt Harvey took over for New York and allowed three runs in four innings.
Strasburg struck out six over five innings, giving up three runs and seven hits. Sammy Solis (1-0) got the win.
Sean Doolittle completed his 20th save in 20 chances since being acquired from Oakland. He's 23 of 24 in save chances overall this season and hasn't blown an opportunity since April 15 against Houston.
Strasburg ran into trouble in the third inning. Brandon Nimmo started the scoring with an RBI ground-rule double down the line in left. Kevin Plawecki followed with a bouncing single to center to drive in two and make it 3-0.
Washington tied it in the fifth. Matt Wieters led off with a solo home run into the Nationals bullpen in right off of Harvey. The teams remained deadlocked until Murphy's extra-innings heroics.
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Matt Albers began the parade of Washington relievers, and Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson, Solis and Doolittle followed, allowing one hit and one walk combined. Washington retired 21 of 22 batters before Asdrubal Cabrera walked in the 10th.
Adam Lind hit a two-run homer to left in the fourth. The homer was the Nationals' 204th of the season, setting a new franchise season record.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Nationals: OF Bryce Harper played in a simulated game. Harper has been on the disabled list with a hyperextended left knee since Aug. 13. Manager Dusty Baker said Harper is "very close" to returning. ... OF Brian Goodwin saw action in the simulated game. Goodwin is on the DL with a left groin strain retroactive to Aug. 14. Baker said Goodwin ran and made some turns on the field. ... RHP Shawn Kelley has inflammation in his forearm and is set to be evaluated. It doesn't appear to be related to his previous ulnar collateral ligament injury.
Mets: Manager Terry Collins said RHP Jacob deGrom, whose start was pushed back to Sunday due to a stomach ailment, is good to go. ... OF Michael Conforto, on the DL since Aug. 25 with a left shoulder dislocation, said before the game it would be about six months before he could resume any baseball activities.
UP NEXT
Nationals: RHP Max Scherzer (15-6, 2.59 ERA) starts Sunday afternoon in the final game of the 3-game series and season series between the teams.
Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (15-9, 3.55) looks to win his second straight decision.
