The Mets were extra unlucky Sunday afternoon at Citi Field, seeing Washington Nationals center fielder Jacob Young rob both Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez of home runs. But they did themselves little favors in a 3-2 loss.

The Nats, the last-place team in the NL East, took the series, 2-1, and the Cincinnati Reds (80-76) edged the Chicago Cubs 1-0 for a win to knock the Mets (80-76) out of a playoff spot.

The piggyback start with left-hander Sean Manaea and righty Clay Holmes was effective, though not quite as effective as the last time out. The Nats (64-92) took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, capitalizing on a wild throw by shortstop Francisco Lindor .

With one out and one on, Manaea (2-4) had Jorge Alfaro on an 0-2 count before the catcher lined a sweeper to left field.

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