Jose Lobaton hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly against his former team in the 12th inning and the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 5-4 on Thursday night.
Lobaton, who spent the previous four years in Washington before signing with the Mets in December, lofted a one-out fly ball off Jefry Rodriguez (3-3) with the bases loaded to score Amed Rosario.
Jacob Rhame (1-2) worked two scoreless innings, and Paul Sewald pitched the 12th for his second save.
Washington Nationals' Victor Robles (16) is out at first by New York Mets first baseman Jay Bruce, left, during the third inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018, in Washington. (AP PhotoNick Wass)
Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was ejected in the 12th for arguing home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn's called third strike.
Washington starter Max Scherzer pitched seven innings, allowing three runs while striking out 13. He has 290 strikeouts this year, the most for a National since the franchise relocated from Montreal before the 2005 season. Scherzer set the previous mark of 284 in 2016.
However, he never held a lead Thursday. Michael Conforto smashed a two-run homer to left in the third, his 27th of the season. It was also his fourth home run in 23 career at-bats against Scherzer.
Four pitches later, Jay Bruce crushed his ninth home run of the season. It was the sixth time this season New York has hit back-to-back homers.
Washington's Trea Turner led off the sixth with an infield single. Two batters later, Anthony Rendon golfed Jason Vargas' changeup to deep left for his 100th career home run to narrow the deficit to 3-2. Vargas allowed two runs and struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings.
Jeff McNeil led off the eighth with a triple and scored two batters later when Bruce punched a single to right past a drawn-in infield. But the Nationals responded with Rendon's run-scoring groundout and Juan Soto's RBI double off Robert Gsellman in the bottom half of the inning.
Mets manager Mickey Callaway was ejected in the 10th inning for arguing after Reyburn ruled McNeil had offered on a bunt attempt.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: INF Wilmer Flores will miss the rest of the season with soreness in both knees. Callaway said Flores has early onset arthritis in both knees and will receive injections to alleviate the pain. "It's not like surgery is recommended at this time," Callaway said. "I think rest and a couple injections is supposed to knock this out pretty good."
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (8-9, 1.78 ERA), who is 5-1 with a 2.76 ERA lifetime at Nationals Park, gets the nod for New York as the four-game series continues.
Nationals: RHP Joe Ross (0-0, 3.60) makes his second start since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic and LeBron James were brought together for nights like these. The two Los Angeles Lakers superstars topped 30 points each in a game for the first time this season.
Doncic had 34 points, hitting 17 of 20 free throws, and six rebounds and eight assists. James had 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go with nine rebounds and six assists.
The Lakers rallied for a 128-121 victory over the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
It was the third time overall that Doncic and James both scored 30 or more points in the same game, their 42nd together. It happened twice in March, a month after Doncic joined the Lakers in a blockbuster trade from Dallas.
“Just playing in rhythm. Trying to find ways that we can be productive,” said James, the NBA's oldest active player who turned 41 on Tuesday. “Luka did a great job getting to the free throw line. Myself, just trying to sprinkle in a little bit here, a little bit there. Just trying to be consistent and super efficient with my play. We worked well off each other.”
Doncic's 17 made free throws were one off his career high, while his 20 attempts were a season high. As a team, the Grizzlies were 15 of 23 from the line.
“Just trying to get downhill a lot more than usual for me,” Doncic said. “But for him, he's just playing his game, attacking whatever he sees, being efficient and helping us win the games.”
The Lakers improved to 11-0 in clutch-time wins this season. The game was tied twice in the fourth, when the teams traded one-point leads until the final 5 1/2 minutes. James had 10 points in the period and Doncic had six. They combined for five assists and three rebounds.
“He was phenomenal,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said about James. “There was just a few stretches there where they made runs and the response from him, it felt like nearly every time we needed a bucket, he just kind of willed it.”
Doncic hit James with a 70-foot outlet pass at one point.
“One of the best quarterbacks and I’m a pretty good receiver when it comes to that,” James said. “It’s my job to not allow the defense to break that up or steal the ball. He put it on time and on target for me.”
Doncic and James got plenty of help from their teammates. Jake LaRavia had 21 points and nine rebounds and Marcus Smart had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Jaxson Hayes added 12 points off the bench.
“Them doing that, it actually takes the pressure and the load off LeBron and Luka,” Redick said.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, and guard Marcus Smart celebrate after Smart scored during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, shoots as Memphis Grizzlies center Christian Koloko defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, center, drives toward the basket as Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama, left, and forward Jaren Jackson Jr. defend during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, left, and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James go after a rebound during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic, left, shoots as Memphis Grizzlies forward GG Jackson defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
