Totally Phudged

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The Mets lost their fifth game in a row and third against the Phillies, who clobbered them 11-3. 

Clay Holmes was pounded on from the jump. Old chum Harrison Bader continued his history-making hitting against his old team by singling to left to begin the bottom of the first. Kyle Schwarber walked. Bryce Harper was hit by a sweeper to load the bases. JT Realmuto singled home Bader. After a Brandon Marsh strike out, Holmes hit Max Kepler with a different sweeper to make it 2-0. 

Cristopher Sánchez meanwhile was his typical excellent self. Woop de do. He allowed just one hit through the first three innings. In the top of the fourth, Juan Soto barely missed a home run but doubled to left center. With one out, Pete Alonso singled to left to move Soto to third. Starling Marte got a base hit to left, scoring Soto to cut the lead in half. But Brandon Nimmo then grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. 

Philly began to break it open in the fifth. After Realmuto reached on an infield hit, Brandon Marsh sent him home with a double down the right field line. That ended Holmes’ night and started Gregory Soto’s. Soto permitted a Max Kepler RBI single off the first pitch he threw to make it 4-1 Phillies. The sixth was the kill shot. With Soto still in the game, Bader was hit by a pitch. Kyle Schwarber singled. Harper reached on a 3-6 fielder’s choice. Realmuto was hit by a pitch too - the Mets tied a franchise record by plunking four batters last night. With the bases loaded, Marsh singled home Bader. Kepler hit a two RBI base knock to center. Finally, Carlos Mendoza took Soto out and gave Ryne Stanek a shot. Otto Kemp hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Marsh and make it 8-1 Phillies. 

Bryce Harper and Juan Soto each hit solo homers late in the game to make the score 9-2. Soto’s dinger was his 39th of the season. In the bottom of the eighth, Max Kepler went yard solo style off of Ryan Helsley. Old chum Donovan Walton recorded an RBI ground out to bring the score up to 11-2. A little two-out rally in the top of the ninth resulted in a third run for New York. 

What more is there to say? Carlos Mendoza said after Tuesday night’s game that the Mets have to “fight”. He must have forgotten to tell the team. 

 ***

The Giants lost but the Reds won. Cincy and the Giants are both two behind the Mets with 16 games to play. The Mets have the tiebreaker over the Giants. The Reds have the tiebreaker over the Mets. It’s fine. 

The Mets took fastballs for third strikes a few times last night. That’s notable because they were famously hunting fastballs during their great offensive month in August. Why in the hell did they change their strategy? 

If it feels like Harrison Bader owns the Mets this year, that’s because he is. He’s on pace for the best batting average against the Mets in a season ever. (minimum 25 plate appearances.) Going from a second-string center fielder to team owner in a year is pretty impressive you must admit.

So yeah, the Mets started the season 45-24. Since June 13th - the day after Kodai Senga got hurt - they’re 31-46. They have the fourth lowest winning percentage in MLB since that particular Friday the 13th. Only the lame Rockies, Twins, and Nationals have been worse. Even the White Sox have technically been better. 

Clay Holmes is the 2025 Mets personified. He’s good, but not great. He’s probably best in small doses, but that’s not how he’s taken. Technically his stats say he’s one of the better players, but he’s never really shown that to be true.

Cedric Mullins broke out of his 0 for 26 slump with a 9th inning single. Mullins started the game on the bench for the second night in a row.

Carlos Mendoza confirmed yesterday that Jesse Winker is out for the year. There’s technically still no diagnosis on what exactly is wrong with The Wink Man. All we know is it has something to do with his back. I doubt he lost the dog in him.

Tylor Megill will get another medical opinion on his right elbow. He felt tightness in his arm when he threw his secondary pitches during his last rehab start. Tommy John surgery has not been discussed. Yet. 

Pete Alonso was the guest on Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman’s The Show. I stopped watching when Alonso said the Mets “talent is undeniable.” 

Baseball Prospectus Editor-in-Chief Craig Goldstein wrote an interesting piece about how the Dodgers are ruining baseball not by getting all the good players but by punting a lot of regular season games. It seems like the Mets have mentally punted some games, days, weeks this season. They act as if it doesn’t matter if they back into the playoffs so long as they’re playing in October. That attitude makes logical sense, but in reality it seems to cause laziness that might lead to missing the postseason entirely. GKR alluded to this on the broadcast last night.

The Mets touted that they’re going to hit the three million in season attendance mark for the first time since Citi Field’s inaugural season. Steve Cohen complained and the fans paid attention. That and Juan Soto came to town.

Pedro Martinez waited until this week to RSVP for Saturday’s Alumni Classic. He’s allowed.

Steve and Alex Cohen donated $2 million to the International Women’s Baseball Center (IWBC), a  nonprofit “dedicated to protecting, preserving, and promoting all aspects of women’s baseball.” 

Binghamton Rumble Ponies Nick Morabito, Chris Suero, and D’Andre Smith are going to the Arizona Fall League this, uh, autumn.

Sean Stellato (Tommy DeVito’s agent) tried Citi Field's gluten free food on TikTok.

Jay Horwitz was the guest on a live edition of Meet at the Apple. That man proved once again he’s seen a lot.

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets (71-69) fell to the Worcester Red Sox 4-1. RHP Jonathan Pintaro got the start and it did not go well. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits in just one and two third innings. He walked and struck out one.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (87-45) scored one in the 10th and two in the 11th to shock the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox affiliate) 6-5. A SS William Lugo sac fly was the game-winner. Jack Wenninger went a career-high eight innings. He allowed one earned run on seven hits while walking nobody and punching out two. The Rumble Ponies’ 87 wins this season are the most ever for a Binghamton team.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones and Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates) took a travel day. Game 2 of their SAL division series is tonight in Brooklyn. The Cyclones lead the best-of-3 series one game to none.

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets took Game 1 of their best-of-3 FSL East Divisional Series, defeating the Daytona Tortugas (Reds) 4-2. RHP Jose Chirinos got the win. In five innings of work he didn’t allow an earned run. He permitted just two hits and three walks while fanning four. RHP Tyler McLoughlin got the two-inning save. He allowed just one hit and struck out four. 

Four years ago today was the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Players from both the Mets and Yankees wore jerseys with “NEW YORK” written on their chests. 

The Mets look to win a damn game against the Phillies in Philadelphia. David Peterson (9-5, 3.72 ERA) will chuck the pill for New York (NL). Philly will counter with yet another lefty, Jesús Luzardo (13-6, 4.01 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 pm eastern. The game will air on Fox.