The Mets weren’t happening with out a battle.
Not within the race for the Nationwide League East, and never on Tuesday night time, even because the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies delivered punch after punch at Citi Discipline.
Brandon Nimmo’s walk-off RBI single in opposition to star nearer Jhoan Duran capped a roller-coaster 6-5 win by the Mets, who now path the Phillies by 5 video games within the division with 30 left to play.
“This team knows what it’s capable of,” Nimmo mentioned. “We’ve got a lot of veteran guys in here that know. As for me personally, this is the most talented team I’ve ever played on, so I know exactly what we’re capable of. It’s just going out there and executing it every night.”
The Mets have been up, 5-3, when struggling set-up man Ryan Helsley entered within the high of the eighth, however the lead rapidly evaporated when Helsley surrendered a one-out stroll to Nick Castellanos and game-tying two-run house run to Harrison Bader.
Bader, who spent final season with the Mets, pulled a 99-mph fastball on a 3-2 rely deep into the left-field stands, prompting boos for Helsley from many inside a crowd of 41,914.
Helsley has now blown 4 saves and owns a ten.38 ERA in 11 video games because the Mets acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals final month.
“We’ve just got to get Hels right,” supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned. “[He has] too good of stuff for them to be taking really good swings on fastballs, really good takes on the sliders. We’ve got to look back and see what we’re missing here, because for teams to have comfortable at-bats like that, something’s going on here.”
The Mets misplaced every of the earlier three video games wherein Helsley blew a save, however they snapped that streak Tuesday.
Edwin Diaz stopped the bleeding with 4 strikeouts over 1.2 scoreless innings, conserving the sport tied, 5-5, till the underside of the ninth.
That’s when Starling Marte, Pete Alonso and a pinch-hitting Brett Bay delivered back-to-back-to-back singles in opposition to Duran, loading the bases for Nimmo with no person out.
“It just made my job a whole lot easier there,” Nimmo mentioned. “A lot of things get the job done. All I need to do is find the barrel, so just keeping things real simple from my end, but that at-bat doesn’t happen without Marte getting things going, Pete putting the barrel on the ball, and then Baty having an unbelievable at-bat.”
The Phillies struck first on Tuesday night time, taking a 2-0 lead within the fifth on Bryce Harper’s two-run single in opposition to reliever Gregory Soto.
Each runs have been charged to starter Sean Manaea, who held the Phillies scoreless via 4 innings earlier than exiting with runners on the corners and two outs within the fifth.
Manaea recorded eight strikeouts over these 4.2 innings, however he threw 90 pitches, together with 23 in opposition to 4 batters within the fifth.
Tuesday’s begin was the ninth of the 12 months for Manaea, whose season debut was delayed till mid-July as a consequence of an indirect pressure and a unfastened physique in his left elbow. After posting a 3.47 ERA final 12 months, Manaea has a 5.01 ERA this season and is but to pitch greater than 5.2 innings in a begin.
“I feel like I’m getting in good counts, but I’m just not putting guys away,” Manaea mentioned.
The Mets answered with 5 runs within the backside of the fifth, beginning with Juan Soto’s RBI single in opposition to Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo.
Pete Alonso adopted with a two-run double in opposition to reliever Orion Kerkering, and Mark Vientos added an RBI single. The Mets led, 5-2, after Nimmo lifted a sacrifice fly to conclude the rally.
“I continue to love what I see from the guys,” Mendoza mentioned. “The fight. The compete. Not giving up, and just play the whole game. We did it yesterday. We did it today, and we need to continue to do that.”
The Mets entered the three-game collection at Citi Discipline seven video games behind the Phillies, however they gained floor with Monday’s 13-3 win and Tuesday’s whirlwind victory.
They go for a sweep on Wednesday night time, with rookie Nolan McLean (2-0, 1.46 ERA) set to start out for the Mets and Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.44 ERA) scheduled to pitch for Philadelphia.
“Where we’re at now in the season, every game is super important. Every series,” Mendoza mentioned. “Our job is to continue to win series. We have an opportunity to do something here against a pretty team that’s in front of us, but [we take it] one day at a time. You like the fight. You like the way guys continue to rise to the occasion.”
Initially Revealed: August 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM EDT
