WASHINGTON (AP) — The game between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals was suspended with the Nationals leading 1-0 in the third inning after a rain delay of 3 hours, 56 minutes on Saturday.

The game will be continued as part of a split-admission doubleheader on Sunday.

A light rain was falling when the game began at 4:05 p.m. EDT and soon intensified, but play continued. The Mets had runners on second and third after a one-out double by Michael Perez when the game was halted.

After the rain stopped, the tarp came off the field at around 7 p.m. Managers Buck Showalter and Dave Martinez inspected the infield, and the grounds crew continued to work on it. At one point the fans remaining at Nationals Park began a chant of “Let's play baseball,” but the game was eventually suspended at 8:39 p.m.

The Nationals got an RBI single from Joey Meneses in the first inning and loaded the bases with one out. Former Mets player Dominic Smith took a called strike on a 3-0 pitch that appeared out of the zone and soon grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Mets have allowed first-inning runs in seven straight games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: RHP Dominic Leone, who experienced elbow discomfort while warming up in the ninth inning on Friday, said he was going to play catch on Saturday to test the elbow.

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Max Scherzer (2-2, 5.56 ERA), who was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday in Cincinnati with neck spasms, is scheduled to pitch Sunday. Scherzer is 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA against his former team since he joined the Mets.

Nationals: RHP Jake Irvin (1-0, 0.84) tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Giants on May 8 for his first major league win.

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