The New York Mets just can’t catch a break, absorbing their seventh straight defeat Friday night in an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers at Citi Field. The defeat has shed light on a troubling trend that has characterized the team’s September collapse, an imploding pitching staff that cannot keep opponents off the board.
The Mets have now allowed eight or more runs in 20 games this season, including eight times since August 13, according to USA Today reporter Bob Nightengale. During their current seven-game skid, New York’s staff owns an alarming 6.95 ERA, a figure that has undone any chance of maintaining their once-promising playoff positioning. The loss was also the third separate seven-game losing streak of this season, the first time the Mets have done so in a single season since 1980.
Friday’s game was effectively over in the first inning. Rookie Jonah Tong, making his third big league start, lasted just two-thirds of an inning while allowing six runs on four hits and three walks. His ERA ballooned from 4.09 to 8.49, and his 40-pitch meltdown was the shortest outing by a Mets starter since David Peterson recorded only one out on September 14, 2022.
Texas, playing without several injured stars, batted around in the opening frame, with RBI hits from Josh Jung, Alejandro Osuna, Cody Freeman, and Michael Helman. By the time Tong was lifted, the Rangers had sent 10 batters to the plate and put New York in a 6-0 hole after just 22 minutes of play.
The Rangers’ offensive surge came against a Mets team already reeling. New York hitters had been retired in 29 consecutive plate appearances across two games before Mark Vientos singled in the second inning to snap the streak. Their only offensive burst came in the third, when Francisco Alvarez homered and Juan Soto and Pete Alonso added sacrifice flies to cut the deficit to 6-3.
But former Met Jacob deGrom silenced any comeback hopes. Making his first Citi Field start since leaving in free agency, deGrom allowed just three runs on four hits over seven innings, striking out two and walking none. He retired his final 15 batters and needed only 88 pitches to complete his outing.
The Mets’ bullpen didn’t fare much better. Gregory Soto surrendered a two-run homer to Dylan Moore in the seventh, continuing a disastrous stretch in which he has posted a 9.45 ERA over his last seven appearances.
The loss left the Mets clinging to a slim lead in the NL wild-card race, which had shrunk to as little as a half-game over Cincinnati and San Francisco by night’s end. Since holding MLB’s best record at 45-24 on June 11, the Mets have gone 31-48, a collapse mirrored only by historically bad stretches like the 1973 Mets and 2014 Brewers.
With 14 games remaining, New York faces mounting pressure to stabilize its pitching staff. Unless the Mets find a way to reverse their spiraling ERA, their playoff hopes could disappear as quickly as Tong’s start on Friday night.
