For 3 months, the music was the identical: Meet the Mets, beat the Mets. For actually half-a-season, the Mets have been shedding to everyone. Now come three victories this week — beginning with the one Sunday when an important Met named Pete Alonso saved them once more — once they appeared as if they could have it in them to beat anyone.
Possibly no matter they’re going to be throughout the remainder of September after which into October actually did begin with Alonso’s walk-off homer towards the Rangers. Now he’s hit house runs in 4 consecutive video games and the Mets have received three of the 4. And the way in which they’ve appeared in successful these three video games makes the season they’ve performed to right here, one which has formally change into the Coney Island Cyclone, extra of a thriller that it already was.
However it’s a thriller for which they’re going to get the prospect to put in writing a satisfying ending. And even perhaps end it the way in which they began it, trying nearly as good as anyone in baseball.
For this one almost good baseball afternoon at Citi Area, the Mets noticed the child, Jonah Tong — simply certainly one of their child pitchers — bounce again massive and pitch brilliantly throughout 5 innings, hanging out eight. After that they noticed one man after one other out of the bullpen, all over Edwin Diaz, doing their jobs and shutting down the Padres.
In case you have intently adopted this legit theme-park experience, you already know the story. They have been 45-24. However then got here the three months once they have been solely higher than two groups: Rockies, Nationals; three months throughout which even the White Sox have been higher than the $340 million Mets; throughout which the Phillies at one level had picked up 18 video games within the standings. Yeah. Meet the Mets, watch nearly everyone beat the Mets.
Then got here Sunday afternoon, and what each Mets fan on the town hopes is the start of a final stand, for a workforce that had begun to look prepared for final rites. However once more: Possibly it figures, even with the season Juan Soto is having on the plate, that it was Alonso who made the massive swing. Final April, Alonso golfed one out of the ballpark towards the Tigers within the ninth, tied a sport his workforce ended up successful, saved the ’24 Mets from beginning 0-6.
And naturally everyone remembers the top-of-the-Ninth swing he made towards the Brewers in Sport 3 final October, when the Mets have been as shut as they have been to going house. He despatched a Devin Williams pitch over the rightfield wall and earlier than we knew it, the Mets have been a few wins away from the World Sequence. So there Alonso was final Sunday, stopping an 8-game shedding streak.
He has saved hitting them since. Soto has saved hitting, on his option to a season as exceptional as any Met has ever had. He’s gone previous 40 house runs. Alonso is chasing 40 once more, and already has 121 RBI. If Steve Cohen and David Stearns let him stroll away when this season is over, they’re each nuts. He’s not Aaron Decide. However he’s the Mets’ Decide.
Say it once more: Alonso, homegrown, made for this metropolis and for this workforce and massive moments, is likely one of the nice Mets. At all times he’s there when the Mets want him and has been once more this week, when it had begun to look as if the sky was falling.
So he hit one other one Thursday. Brandon Nimmo hit his twenty fourth, a three-run shot that broke the sport open. Tong got here again from an unspeakably unhealthy begin towards the Rangers — six earned runs, didn’t make it out of the primary — to look as dazzling as he did towards the workforce chasing the Dodgers within the Nationwide League West.
“[Tong] was doing amazing today,” Nimmo stated when it was over, on a day when the Mets did some superb themselves, with their beginning pitching and aid pitching and with their hitting.
“We’ve gone back to doing the little things,” Nimmo stated on the sphere.
In some way the Mets haven’t received a single sport this yr when trailing after eight innings. In some way they’ve had two seven-game shedding streaks after which the just about unwatchable eight-gamer that Alonso ended Sunday. In some way they went from being 21 video games over .500 on June 12 to 16 video games below since then, even having received these three out of 4.
However they haven’t fallen out of the Wild Card race, largely as a result of they’re being chased by the Giants and Diamondbacks and Reds. They’re attempting to finish the common season proper with three children of their rotation who have been nonetheless within the minor leagues on the All-Star break: Nolan McLean, who has change into their ace; Brandon Sproat; Tong. For those who can ever bear in mind something like this occurring in September with a New York Metropolis playoff workforce, ship up a flare by all means.
You now see how they appear when McLean begins. You noticed how they appeared on Thursday with Tong getting out of bother early and pitching the way in which he did after that. All people can see how harmful the highest of the order nonetheless is: Francisco Lindor, Soto, Nimmo, Alonso. That’s the reason, as unhealthy as they’ve appeared since June — and so they have steadily appeared terrible since June — they’re nonetheless a very good wager to do these massive issues in October, offered what we’ve seen over the previous few days isn’t simply one other head faux from them.
“You always want to play your best baseball at the end of the year,” Alonso stated after the Mets received, 6-1.
He’s proper. And is doing extra than simply speaking all about it. Alonso has been at his finest this week. Soto has been at his finest for over a month.
Meet the Mets. This week’s model, anyway. Possibly from little issues, as a music as soon as stated, massive issues sometime come.
Initially Printed: September 19, 2025 at 7:30 AM EDT
