Jonah Tong was given one other begin within the massive leagues largely due to the way in which he’s bounced again from powerful outings within the minor leagues. Because it seems, he’s simply as adept at that within the Majors as nicely.
Tong was stellar within the Mets‘ 6-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday afternoon at Citi Discipline, successful a key collection towards the group instantly forward of them within the NL Wild Card standings.
“That’s kind of like the guy that we saw at the minor league level pretty much the whole year,” mentioned supervisor Carlos Mendoza. “Getting swinging misses with the fastball up at the top, the changeup, the curveball, attacking [hitters]. He was pretty impressive.”
Tong, all of twenty-two years previous, didn’t even make it by means of the primary inning his final trip towards the Texas Rangers, main the Mets to query whether or not or not it was good for all concerned to have the inexperienced, right-handed rookie beginning video games.
It’s a sound debate. The membership has a accountability to stability the near-term targets of a group that’s hanging on to the third Wild Card playoff spot, and the long-term improvement of a possible frontline starter. A couple of too many dangerous begins may kill a younger pitcher’s confidence and set the group again within the standings.
“He got emotional right after that game, but I saw a lot of good signs from him the days after, in preparation for this outing,” Mendoza mentioned. “The very next day, he was going through videos and things like that, and the mindset was already on this game. You watch him, pull him aside, and see the way he’s interacting and carrying himself, he was the same guy. So those are some really positive signs from a kid.”
Tong (2-2) was able to rebound. Utilizing the lethal excessive fastball he’s identified for, he held the Padres (83-70) to just one unearned run and struck out eight over 5 innings.
“I threw a lot more strikes,” Tong mentioned. “I just think it’s from the very first pitch, I had the confidence to just attack hitters.”
He seemingly may have gone longer than 5 innings, having thrown solely 82 pitches, however the Mets (79-74) are attempting to watch out with their three younger rookies in an effort to guard them and guarantee they’re in optimum conditions.
The protection helped him create an optimum state of affairs within the first inning when Manny Machado tried to take second after a single to left subject. Brandon Nimmo performed the ball off the wall and hit shortstop Francisco Lindor, the cutoff man, who then flipped to Jeff McNeil at second base for the out. Luis Arraez, the lead runner, held up at third.
“That was huge,” Tong mentioned. “I remember I was running in, I was like, ‘Oh no, I gotta cover, I gotta get back behind home plate.’ I got there late, and I turned around and I saw that throw. So definitely, that was huge.”
The one run scored by San Diego was principally the results of a sloppy sequence within the third inning. Leadoff man Fernando Tatis hit a one-out single, one among solely 4 hits allowed by Tong, and the pitcher’s pickoff throw went previous Pete Alonso. The error despatched him to second, and a wild pitch despatched him to 3rd, the place he was in a position to rating on a fly ball by Arraez. Nimmo’s throw from left subject to catcher Luis Torrens was on the road, however not in time, and the sport was tied at 1-1.
The Mets didn’t let it snowball into a number of runs, as they’ve been identified to do, and it didn’t appear to rattle Tong in any respect. He struck out Machado to finish the inning, and proceeded to retire the following six hitters to finish his outing.
“I think it shows a lot of maturity from him at such a young age to be able to bounce back and double down on what he does well and go and execute it,” Nimmo mentioned. “He did an incredible job right now towards a very powerful lineup. It proves that he has a really shiny future forward of him.
“This game, especially up here in the big leagues, is all about adjustments, and he made great adjustments today.”
Nimmo gave Tong some run assist within the backside of the inning with a three-run residence run, a part of a four-run inning that put the Mets up 5-1. After going forward 2-1, Alonso, who homered within the first inning for the fourth straight recreation, drew a stroll to place two on with one out. The Padres went to the bullpen to exchange right-hander Randy Vasquez (5-7).
Left-hander Wandy Peralta relieved Bradgley Rodriguez to counter the left-handed Nimmo, and the outfielder teed off on a 1-2 changeup, sending it into the San Diego bullpen in right-center subject for a three-run homer.
Tyler Rogers, Brooks Raley, Gregory Soto and Edwin Diaz held the Padres scoreless the remainder of the way in which.
“That’s exactly what we have to do in order to make the playoffs and win in the playoffs — put together complete games,” Nimmo mentioned.
Initially Revealed: September 18, 2025 at 4:07 PM EDT
