Three teams have made a recent push at the New York Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot. The Arizona Diamondbacks would have had a good revenge story for last year’s tie-breaker win the Mets had over them from taking the season series. The San Francisco Giants would have splashed cold water on New York for the fact that they sold to the Mets. Lately, it’s the Cincinnati Reds making the final push.

It’s not the most frustrating story because they were the one team of the three to actually buy at the trade deadline. However, with their ownership of the tie-breaker over the Mets by winning 4 of 6 games in the regular season, they’re the last team we wanted to see come charging forward. That’s not to discount how the Diamondbacks are one game behind with the Giants having a few breaths left in them, too.

If it all comes down to a tie-breaker, we can blame a single pitching decision for it.

The first relief pitcher decision in the second half of 2025 might cost them a playoff spot

It was July 18 and the Mets relievers were well-rested heading into the second half. For the first time in 2025, the Mets and Reds faced off. With a 2-1 lead, Carlos Mendoza pulled Sean Manaea after 69 pitches. It was justifiable considering it was his first start back from the IL, having made one relief appearance right before the All-Star Break. The mistake was choosing Alex Carrillo to be the first man out of the bullpen.

A two-run home run with two outs gave the Reds the lead. For some reason, the Mets stuck with Carrillo for another inning. After a lead off home run, it was time to pull the plug. Did they? Nope. He remained in the game and served up a second two-run shot before getting hooked.

A freshly rested Mets bullpen went completely unused with Brandon Waddell relieving Carrillo and finishing the game. The decision was a bad one with Carrillo giving up runs in each of his first two appearances in the big leagues prior to this outing. And because the Mets dropped this game 8-4, they set themselves up for what would become a lost regular season series versus the Reds.

It matters a whole lot in the final days of the season because the Reds and Mets now have identical 80-76 records. The first tie-breaker is head-to-head. Nothing will change between the Reds and Mets. They played their last game against each other with Cincinnati gaining the advantage all starting with the choice to summon Carrillo from the bullpen and stick with him for too long.

Mets fans are fully aware of how important tie-breakers are. Last year, the Mets won the season series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks which made them a playoff team as a result. In a year where everything seems to have gone exactly the opposite for the Mets, losing a tie-breaker would be the rotten cherry on top.