NEW YORK (Interstat) — Daylen Lile hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the top of the 11th inning to lift the Washington Nationals to a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.

The Nationals built an early 3-0 lead but watched the Mets rally to tie the game with two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth, sending the contest to extra innings. With the automatic runner on second, Lile delivered the decisive blow off Mets reliever Tyler Rogers (4-6).

With one out, Lile drove a 2-2 sinker off the center-field wall. The ball caromed away from Mets center fielder Cedric Mullins, allowing the speedy Lile to circle the bases and score easily with a headfirst slide.

PJ Poulin retired the side in order in the bottom of the 11th for his first career save, striking out Juan Soto looking to end the 3-hour, 18-minute game in front of a crowd of 43,412.

Sauryn Lao (1-0) earned the win for Washington with a scoreless inning of relief.

The Nationals improved to 63-92, while the Mets fell to 80-75.

Washington jumped ahead early against Mets starter Nolan McLean. James Wood walked and scored on a fielder’s choice groundout by Lile in the first inning. In the second, Dylan Crews scored from first base on a single by Riley Adams, who advanced to third on a fielding error by Soto in right field. Adams then scored on a throwing error by first baseman Pete Alonso.

That early offense was enough to support a strong start from Nationals right-hander Cade Cavalli, who scattered five hits over five scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

McLean was nearly as effective for New York, allowing one earned run on four hits over five innings while striking out six.

The Mets, who out-hit Washington 11-6, finally broke through in the eighth against the Nationals’ bullpen. With two outs, Starling Marte doubled and pinch-hitter Mark Vientos followed with a two-run double to left field to cut the deficit to 3-2.

New York tied it in the ninth. Pinch-runner Jose Siri scored on a single by Soto off reliever Jose A. Ferrer. The Mets loaded the bases later in the inning, but Ferrer struck out Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte to escape further damage.

The victory snapped a one-game skid for the Nationals, who lost 12-6 to the Mets on Friday. The two teams conclude their three-game series on Sunday.