NEW YORK – Lost in the shuffle of Saturday night’s dramatic win was the play that nearly cost the Nationals the game.

Moments before Daylen Lile hit his go-ahead, inside-the-park homer in the top of the 11th, CJ Abrams was tagged out trying to advance to third base on Andrés Chaparro’s grounder to the left side of the infield. It was a potentially killer mistake on the basepaths, one the Nats were grateful didn’t end up costing them, thanks to Lile’s subsequent heroics.

It also left Abrams with a banged-up right shoulder that forced him from the game and is keeping him out of the lineup for today’s series finale against the Mets.

“He kind of jammed his shoulder,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “He told me he was fine, but he was a little sore. So we’re just giving him the day. But he’s going to be ready to pinch-hit if we need to. Just a precaution.”

Abrams was the Nationals’ automatic runner at second base to begin the 11th after making the final out of the 10th, representing the go-ahead run in a tie game. And when Chaparro immediately hit a routine grounder to third baseman Ronny Mauricio, the traditional move for the runner would’ve been to retreat and keep himself in scoring position for the next batter.

But Abrams went for it, believing Mauricio was playing too deep to be able to catch him as he ran by. Mauricio did, however, catch him. And as Abrams unsuccessfully tried to dive to elude the tag, his right shoulder hit the ground hard.

“Maybe he thought (Mauricio) couldn’t make it, because he was playing back,” Cairo said. “It’s just being aggressive. I don’t mind being aggressive. He got tagged, but he almost made the third baseman lose the ball. He kind of bobbled the ball. It happens. It’s a good thing that Lile came back and hit the homer.”

When the bottom of the 11th arrived, Luis García Jr. entered the game and took over at second base, with Nasim Nuñez shifting to shortstop in Abrams’ place. In the clubhouse afterward, Abrams didn’t have his shoulder wrapped up, and the same was true this morning, confirming the injury doesn’t appear to be serious.

* Saturday’s game saw a pair of rookie relievers emerge with historic first achievements.

Right-hander Sauryn Lao pitched a scoreless bottom of the 10th, allowing a leadoff bunt single to Luisangel Acuña but then inducing a double play grounder from Francisco Alvarez before getting Mauricio to fly out to left.

And when the Nationals took the lead in the top of the 11th, Lao became the pitcher of record, earning his first major league win.

The 26-year-old just joined the staff this week, called up from Triple-A Rochester only days after the Nats claimed him off waivers from the Mariners. A former position player in the Dodgers system, Lao became a full-time pitcher in 2023 and has now appeared three times in four days since his promotion.

“He throws strikes,” Cairo said. “As long as you can throw strikes, you’re going to have a chance to perform in the big leagues. … He’s a good athlete. I know we’ve used him a little more than we normally would use him, but if you just use him for one or two innings at a time, I think he can do the job.”

Left-hander PJ Poulin, meanwhile, pitched the bottom of the 11th, retiring the side and striking out Juan Soto representing the tying run to earn his first career save.

With closer Jose A. Ferrer already having thrown 43 pitches across the eighth and ninth innings, Poulin got the assignment in the save situation and delivered in the clutch. The 29-year-old rookie, claimed off waivers from the Tigers in early August, has a 2.78 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings since his promotion.

“It feels really good,” he said of his first save. “I’m happy to be able to do it. I’m happy this team was able to pull it out tonight. It was really, really cool.”