2 Mets outfielders, 1 improbable inside-the-park grand slam for the Nats

When Washington Nationals right-fielder James Wood came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning Tuesday against the Mets with three runners on, he did something extremely rare in the baseball world — hit an inside-the-park grand slam.

Here's how it happened.

First, Wood slammed the hit into the outfield off Mets starter Nolan McLean.

The ball appeared to hit the wall at Nationals Park, then deflected off the glove of left-fielder Nick Morabito — the Mets rookie who was playing his first-ever game at the major-league level.

Not that a charging Tyrone Taylor, the Mets' centre-fielder, could get to the ball either.

Morabito, who flashed some serious defensive prowess earlier in the game, made a valiant effort to snag the ball Wood hit, but crashed into the outfield wall — hard enough to knock off his cap and sunglasses.

The ball then got away from the two Mets outfielders, as the Nationals' base-runners started to clear the basepaths and cross home plate.

Morabito, finally recovering from his crash into the wall, sprinted over to the ball in the outfield and hurled it to a teammate, who then fired a throw to the catcher, too far off the plate and also too late to catch Wood, who had sped around the bases and slid home.

Prior to the grand slam, the Mets had been leading the game 5-0. Wood's improbable four-RBI haul cut the Mets' lead to a single run, through two innings.

New York went on to lose the game 9-6 to Washington.

According to Major League Baseball (MLB), there have been more than 200 inside-the-park grand slams in major league history.

The Associated Press reported that Wood's inside-the-park grand slam was the ninth of its kind since 1994 — and the second for the Nationals since the franchise was