WASHINGTON — It was Wilson Ramos who had the best view of it all, a front-row seat to the splendid intersection of skill and experience and baseball intelligence. The Mets’ catcher saw it all develop: the slow roller off Anthony Rendon’s bat; the peg third baseman Jeff McNeil made to Robinson Cano at second for a force out, which lured Victor Robles back to third momentarily …
“And then he started running,” Ramos said. “Big mistake.”
In this case, it was a gigantic mistake, because even as Cano was receiving the ball from McNeil he was daring Robles to run with his eyes, a catch-and-throw that arrived in an eyeblink in Ramos’ glove with Robles, the Nationals’ gifted rookie center fielder, barely 30 feet down the line.