New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals Live Blog: Instant Analysis and Reactions

The only two relevant teams in the National League East right now battled it out in a series finale Wednesday afternoon.

The Washington Nationals (51-42) defeated the rival Mets, 4-3, at Nationals Park to pull three games ahead of New York (49-46) in the division. 

Entering the game, the Nats were 2-33 when trailing after seven innings-but Michael Taylor had thoughts otherwise. 

The outfielder did it all on Wednesday with a game-tying, two-run single and the subsequent go-ahead run in the eighth inning. He had three RBI on the day. 

The Nationals took two out of three against the Mets this week and will take this win into a four-game series in Pittsburgh on Thursday. Doug Fister (3-5, 4.50 ERA) takes on the Pirates' Francisco Liriano (5-6, 2.98 ERA) in that one. 

Third baseman Yunel Escobar left the game in the second inning with a wrist/hand injury after getting handcuffed on an inside-pitch check swing. The seriousness of Escobar's injury has to be a concern for an injury-depleted Nats team.  

New York has a tall task ahead after losing this series-it faces Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers later this week. 

Both the Nationals and Mets are in the mix to trade for Ben Zobrist, Oakland's veteran utility man, by the July 31 deadline. Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports the Mets have discussed specifics of a possible trade.

Washington announced on Wednesday the release of veteran reliever Jose Valverde, who had an opt-out clause in his contract. In Triple-A this season, the 27-year-old had a 2.39 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and just 1.0 BB/9 in 26.2 innings pitched. 

If you couldn't catch Wednesday's action, the updates are below of an exciting Nationals come-from-behind victory.