WASHINGTON _ It was too fitting, almost to the point of being predictable.
Here were the Mets, up six runs a night after blowing a six-run lead. The difference on Wednesday: The bullpen had to get 12 outs instead of three. You had to have seen this coming, because of course the Mets needed to prove they could overcome the most painful, agonizing loss of the season.
But, apparently, merely winning would not have satisfied the requirement. No, the baseball gods threw the same scenario _ only more difficult _ at the Mets and forced them to handle it. They were tested, given a perfect opportunity to crumble once again.
Nothing seems safe or inevitable after what transpired on Tuesday. If that were the dagger in New York's season, then another such gut-punch would have been the funeral.
Luckily, the Mets and their fans can trash that thought. New York hung on and won, 8-4, to clinch a 4-2 road trip after suffering a six-game skid at home. They still might not make the postseason, but they displayed some fortitude on Wednesday afternoon at Nationals Park.
You had to have seen this coming.
The Mets, with the same lead as a night ago, had to protect it for four innings. As we have seen, anything is possible. The offense had done its job, scoring seven runs over four innings against Anibal Sanchez _ who pitched five full _ while adding another late.
Soon after Jeurys Familia entered in the sixth with a six-run lead, Asdrubal Cabrera hit an RBI single. Anthony Rendon then doubled home two more, and the Nationals were within three runs. Luis Avilan had to come in and finish the inning, and did so cleanly.
The Mets summoned Seth Lugo, their best reliever. If he could not hold the Nationals, who could? He did, pitching two scoreless innings. In the second, he stranded a leadoff single. Three more outs.
Justin Wilson took care of those. No late-game drama, no stunning moments, no postgame dejection.
A sign that the Mets really, really needed to win and would do anything it took: Before Wednesday, Lugo had not pitched multiple innings on the second day of back-to-back appearances. The team was also hesitant to use him on consecutive days in the first part of the season.
On this afternoon, the Mets came out ready to move past their latest inexplicable defeat.
They led by six after a three-run sixth, complete with Amed Rosario's two-run single _ aided by a fielding error in center field _ and Jeff McNeil's RBI base knock. An inning before that, Pete Alonso blasted a solo home run.
They fell behind by one early, but Juan Lagares tied the game with a third-inning homer. An inning later, Robinson Cano, in his first start since returning from the injured list, sent a two-run shot over the left-center field fence.
The guy on the mound battled, too. Zack Wheeler dealt with a lot of traffic on the bases, especially early. At one point, he seemed fortunate to have only surrendered one run. He went over 70 pitches in the third _ not a good sign _ but somehow made it through five, allowing just the run on seven hits.
But as the Mets built their lead, what lied ahead seemed inevitable. Both teams knew this one was not over.
This time, the Mets did not let one slip.
