WASHINGTON -- The second the ball left James Wood’s bat with a full count and two outs in the ninth inning on Friday night at Nationals Park, CJ Abrams was already halfway to second base.
Abrams ran and ran -- helmet falling off, alien necklace bouncing and arms pumping -- and did not stop.
“I’ll tell you right now, CJ was hauling ass,” manager Dave Martinez said. “He really was. I don’t know how else to explain it. But that was awesome to see.”
Abrams did not stop as third-base coach Ricky Gutierrez whipped his arm around like a propeller at takeoff to wave him home.
He did not stop as center fielder Tyrone Taylor scooped up Wood’s ground-ball single -- which had only trickled a few feet out of the infield after deflecting off the glove of second baseman Jeff McNeil -- and fired it in to catcher Francisco Alvarez.
Abrams did not stop until he had slid headfirst into home plate and scored the walk-off run to lift the Nationals to a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Mets.
“I wanted to score so we could win and then go tackle James,” said Abrams.
A game with a triple play and a swinging lead change ended in a fittingly frenzied fashion. Amid the backdrop of an energized postgame celebration in which the dugout erupted, Wood’s jersey was ripped off by his teammates and Gatorade ice buckets were thrown, the Nats snapped the division-rival Mets’ seven-game winning streak.
“This is a big win,” said Martinez. “This is definitely a big moment for a young team like ours. It’s awesome.”
Wood’s shirt was still damp when he spoke to reporters after the electric hit.
“The last two innings of that game were crazy,” Wood said. “It was just up and down, all over the place.”
A game that was nearly lost by a triple was turned around by one.
The Nationals held a two-run lead in the top of the eighth inning before Mark Vientos lofted a triple off Kyle Finnegan down the right-field line that barely evaded a diving Dylan Crews, who had a 10 percent catch probability and would have needed to cover 101 feet in order to make the play. The Nats found themselves trailing, 4-3, as they entered the bottom of the ninth inning.
“The beauty of this game is it’s not over ‘til it’s over,” said Crews. “There’s still opportunities on the board, and we were able to do that in the end.”
Crews put the Mets' go-ahead triple aside and led off the ninth with a triple of his own to right-center field off right-hander Ryne Stanek. José Tena, who has capitalized on limited playing opportunities, drove in Crews with a game-tying RBI single into center field.
The Nats were back in it.
Jacob Young followed by grounding into a force out, bringing Abrams to the plate with one out and a runner on first base. The Mets called on southpaw A.J. Minter, who got Abrams to also ground into a force out at second base.
The 22-year-old Wood calmly approached the plate. He got down 0-2 with two outs, but he patiently worked three consecutive pitches to a full count. Then, he made contact.
Wood jumped on a cutter and sent it up the middle.
“I saw it go through, and I was just happy to get the next guy up,” Wood said. “Then I see Ricky waving him home, and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s on.’”
Abrams dashed from first to home in 9.82 seconds, which is tied with Luis Rengifo for the fourth-fastest time among all players this season.
He also showed off this level of speed in only his second game back from a right hip flexor strain that sidelined him from April 12-23.
“We wanted to make sure it was 100 percent, and it was,” said Abrams, who made two Double-A rehab appearances this week. “I was able to run at my full speed, and it showed tonight.”
In snapping the Mets’ winning streak, the Nationals have won three of their past four and five of their past seven.
“I think we know what we’re capable of, and I feel like the past two series, we’ve been playing really well,” Wood said. “It’s just a good start to another series.”