WASHINGTON — Washington Nationals top prospect James Wood made his major league debut Monday night in a 9-7 loss to the New York Mets.

“It’s unreal,” said Wood, a native of nearby Olney, Maryland, before the game. “Just being able to play for the team I grew up around and watching, it’s a blessing.”

The Nationals selected the contract of the 21-year-old outfielder to call him up from Triple-A Rochester. Wood was acquired in the August 2022 trade that sent Juan Soto to San Diego. He played left field and batted sixth in his first major league contest.

“Unique,” Wood said when asked for one word to describe his debut. “It’s just like the first time doing something, something you’ve never done before, playing in front of a crowd like that and obviously in the major leagues.”

After receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of 26,719 in the bottom of the second, Wood fell behind 1-2, worked the count full and then lined an opposite-field single into left-center against Mets starter David Peterson. It was his only hit of the night in four at-bats.

“I was just kind of looking for a fastball,” Wood said. “His fastball runs, it’s got a run and sink on it. I was trying to push it up and away, especially after I swung through the one down. And then I was just able to get one.”

He is the third-ranked prospect in the Major League Baseball pipeline. The 6-foot-7, 234-pounder was hitting .353 with 10 home runs, 37 RBIs and an OPS of 1.058 in the minors.

“He’s done really well at Triple-A,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “I talked to him a little bit today about his routine, stick with his routine and really just be where your feet are and have fun.”

Wood estimated he’d have “more than 50” friends and family members in attendance for his debut.

“It’s cool just being back home and having my family here and trying to soak it all in,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s still baseball, so just trying to look at it that way.”

The Nationals acquired him in August 2022 in the deal for Soto that also brought shortstop CJ Abrams and left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore to Washington.

Abrams and Gore have been mainstays on a rebuilding club that has remained competitive a year after finishing last in the NL East at 71-91. Washington (39-44) entered Monday four games out of an NL wild-card spot.

In a corresponding roster move, the team designated outfielder Eddie Rosario for assignment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo missed Monday night’s 9-7 win over the Washington Nationals after fainting in his hotel room overnight and hitting his head when he fell.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Nimmo cut his forehead, but did not have a concussion.

“He went through all the tests this morning,” Mendoza said. “Wanted to make sure we weren’t missing anything. Luckily everything came back negative, so I think we got lucky there.”

Nimmo said he woke up not feeling well around 5:15 a.m. He went to the bathroom, cramped up and fainted. When he came to and got up from the floor, he was bleeding from the head and wasn’t sure why. He called the Mets’ trainers, who went to his room to assist him.

Nimmo went to the hospital Monday for tests, including a CT scan, but arrived at the ballpark before game time and spoke to reporters with a bandage on his forehead. He said as a precaution, he wouldn’t be available to play Monday night but hoped to be back in the lineup very soon.

“He’s got a pretty big cut,” Mendoza said.

Nimmo has been with the Mets for nine seasons. The 31-year-old outfielder is hitting .247 with 13 homers, a team-high 50 RBIs and an .815 OPS in 77 games this season, making him a strong candidate to earn his first All-Star selection this month.

Nimmo hit his 100th career home run and an RBI double Sunday, when the Mets lost 10-5 to Houston in 11 innings.

Jeff McNeil started in left field as New York opened a four-game series against the Nationals.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

TORONTO — Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was scratched from the lineup for Monday afternoon’s 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros because of pain in his right hand.

About an hour after Guerrero was scratched, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa was also removed from the lineup because of a sore left knee.

Spencer Horwitz replaced Guerrero at first base and Ernie Clement was added to the lineup at third base. Horwitz notched one hit and Clement hammered a home run in the defeat.

Davis Schneider moved from left field to second base to replace Kiner-Falefa. Daulton Varsho moved from center field to left and Kevin Kiermaier started in center.

Guerrero was hit on the fingers of his hand by a 96 mph fastball from Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole in the third inning of Sunday’s loss to New York.

Guerrero grounded out in the sixth and was replaced by a pinch hitter in the eighth.

A three-time All-Star and the 2021 MLB home run champion, Guerrero is batting .297 with 13 home runs and 50 RBIs in 83 games. He has six homers in his past nine games.

Guerrero went 0 for 2 Sunday, ending a six-game, team-record streak of multi-RBI games.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.