NEW YORK (Interstat) — Jacob Young made a pair of sensational catches in center field Sunday evening as the Washington Nationals hung on and handed the New York Mets a costly 3-2 defeat at Citi Field.

The Mets, who have lost 11 of 15 and are 35-52 since mid-June, dropped into a tie with the streaking Cincinnati Reds for the final National League wild card. Cincinnati, which beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0, holds the tiebreaker over New York.

Despite being heavy underdogs, with Interstat’s ELO system giving the Mets a 65.8 percent probability to win, the Nationals played spoiler behind strong pitching and a single, decisive inning of offense.

Washington struck for all three of its runs in the second inning against Mets starter Sean Manaea, who took the loss. Daylen Lile started the rally with a single to left. After a flyout, Jorge Alfaro doubled to left field, scoring Lile. A throwing error by Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor on the play allowed Alfaro to advance to third.

Two batters later, with two outs, shortstop Nasim Nuñez provided the decisive blow, launching a two-run homer to left-center field to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead.

The Mets chipped away with a run in the third. Luis Torrens led off with a double and scored on a single by Cedric Mullins. New York added another run in the sixth when Lindor atoned for his error with a solo home run to right field, his 28th of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

That was all the offense the Mets could muster against Nationals starter Jake Irvin and a lockdown bullpen. Irvin earned the win, improving to 9-13, after allowing two runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out five.

The story of the game, however, was the defense behind him, specifically the glove of Young in center field.

With the Mets down 3-1, Brett Baty led off the fifth inning with a long fly to center against Irvin. Young initially made a twisting, leaping catch but lost the ball as he crashed into the wall. As the ball was falling toward the ground, a stumbling Young kicked it back up into the air hacky-sack style and gloved it a second time for a circus catch that preserved the lead and left the crowd of 42,960 in disbelief.

Young made another strong running catch in the ninth inning to rob Francisco Alvarez of extra bases, helping to seal the victory.

Mitchell Parker was stellar in relief for Washington, pitching the final 3 2/3 innings to earn his first save of the season. He allowed just two hits and struck out two, effectively silencing the Mets’ lineup when it mattered most.

For New York, the bullpen combination of Brooks Raley, Gregory Soto, Edwin Díaz, and Clay Holmes was brilliant, combining for six innings of scoreless, two-hit relief. Holmes was particularly effective, throwing 3 2/3 perfect innings and striking out three. But the early damage against Manaea, who fell to 2-4 after giving up three runs on four hits in three innings, proved insurmountable.

The Nationals collected nine hits, with Nuñez leading the way by going 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. The Mets managed eight hits but went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

The game time was 2:43 and was played in the evening, concluding a series in which the teams split the first two games.

With the loss, the Mets fell to 80-76, their playoff hopes suddenly in peril with a difficult road trip to Chicago and Miami looming. The Nationals, long eliminated from contention, improved to 64-92 but continued to play a disruptive role in the National League playoff picture, securing their second straight win in the series.

Washington next travels to Atlanta for a three-game series starting Monday. The Mets have an off-day before beginning a critical three-game set against the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.