Tomas Nido leads Mets to 8-2 win against Nationals

No. 8 hitters bat eighth for a reason. They are generally not the best hitters in a lineup, nor the most powerful. Sometimes they are defensive experts. Sometimes they are backups.

They rarely, in other words, accomplish the type of thing that Mets catcher Tomás Nido did on Thursday, hitting his first career grand slam as part of a multihomer, six-RBI game in an 8-2 win over the Nationals. Nido became just the third Mets hitter to drive in at least six runs from the eight-hole in the lineup, joining Dick Schofield in 1992 and Paul Lo Duca in 2007.

.@tnido24 is having a grand old time. #LGM pic.twitter.com/YOKJkHdp3C
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 13, 2020

With manager Luis Rojas giving Wilson Ramos a routine day off following a night game on Wednesday, Nido started behind the plate for the matinee at Citi Field. He made his initial impact in the fourth inning, hitting a go-ahead two-run homer to give the Mets a lead they would never relinquish.

An inning later, Nido completed his first career multihomer game with a grand slam off Nationals prospect Seth Romero, who was making his Major League debut.

The offense was plenty for Mets rookie David Peterson, who allowed one hit and an unearned run in five innings. Peterson would have fared worse if not for Jeff McNeil, who crashed against the left-field wall to save two runs with a leaping catch in the first. But the effort came at a cost, as McNeil was carted off the field due to a knee issue. An X-ray taken during the game came back negative, according to a source.