The Washington Nationals rallied from three runs down, capitalized on two Mets errors in the 8th inning — and were buoyed by an Elijah Dukes running catch at the right field wall — to take the second game of their three game series with the New Yorkers, 4-3. The Mets gaffes came when pinch hitter Cristian Guzman hit into an apparent double play, but Mets’ shortstop Anderson Hernandez threw the ball away. The next Nats’ hitter, Ian Desmond, also hit the ball to Hernandez, but this time second baseman Luis Castillo made the error — throwing the ball into the Nats’ dugout after getting the force at second. The muffs allowed the Nats to break a 3-3 tie, going ahead by a single run heading into the ninth. The game ended on a spectacular leaping catch by Elijah Dukes against the right field wall, preserving the Nats’ second win in as many nights.

Whatever Jim Riggleman said to closer Mike MacDougal two nights ago (after MacDougal allowed three runs in the 10th against the Braves) seems to have worked: MacDougal notched his 18th save on Tuesday with another dominant ninth inning performance. MacDougal’s ERA has taken a beating during September. After a steady August, the Nats thought they had finally found their closer. MacDougal’s ERA stood at just over 3.40. But over the next month, culminating with the three runs he gave up against Atlanta, MacDougal gave up a steady stream of ninth inning hits (and runs) and his ERA plunged — after tonight’s win it stands at a wobbly 4.42. But on Monday night, MacDougal notched three ground outs (with three up and three down), while tonight he served up two strikeouts to close out the Chokes on successive nights. Not surprisingly, the key for MacDougal is throwing strikes, which he has consistently done over the last two games.