Mets Morning News: Game 162

Meet the Mets

With the Mets’ backs against the wall, Clay Holmes stepped up and threw six shutout innings in a 5-0 victory in a must win game in Miami. Eury Pérez was shaky in the first inning, allowing a run on a walk to Francisco Lindor, a wild pitch, and a Pete Alonso RBI double. The Mets threatened for more in the first, but settled for just the one run. Alonso doubled the Mets’ lead with a solo homer in the second and Pérez was dominant after that, striking out 11 Mets in his 5 1/3 innings of work. Luckily,

Clay Holmes and the Mets’ bullpen were equal to the task. Holmes allowed just four baserunners over the course of his quality start. Brooks Raley and Tyler Rogers each contributed a scoreless inning with a strikeout and the Mets added three runs of insurance against the Marlins’ bullpen in the ninth, providing more cushion for Edwin Díaz, who pitched the ninth despite the larger lead and closed the door with a 1-2-3 ninth complete with a strikeout. This victory over the Marlins kept the Mets’ playoff hopes alive and the third NL Wild Card slot will be decided on the final day of the regular season.

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Sean Manaea will start today’s decisive Game 162 for the Mets, the team announced last night. But of course all hands will be on deck in the bullpen.

Unfortunately, if the Mets do make it to the postseason, Brett Baty will not be on the roster, as he was placed on the injured list yesterday with an oblique strain, which he suffered during a swing in Friday night’s game. Unless the Mets make a very deep playoff run, Baty’s season is over. Jared Young was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to take Baty’s place on the roster.

Before yesterday’s game, the Mets also designated Kevin Herget for assignment to make room on the roster for a fresh arm: prospect Dylan Ross.

The Mets also announced that both Jose Siri and Richard Lovelady were outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse after both were DFA’d and cleared waivers, so both players remain in the organization.

Speaking of Brett Baty, according to reporting by SNY’s Andy Martino, the Yankees and Mets discussed a trade at the deadline that would have sent Baty across town to the Bronx in exchange for Trent Grisham. The injury to Aaron Judge’s elbow was a key consideration here for the Yankees and the injury being minor led the Yankees to not sell at the deadline.

Around the National League Wild Card

After the game between the Mets and Marlins concluded yesterday, the Reds put forward a convincing victory of their own, beating the Brewers 7-4. A six-run third inning carried the Reds and Emilio Pagan pitched for the fourth time in four days to earn his 32nd save of the season to cap off the victory for Cincinnati. Of course, this means that the Mets and Reds enter the final game of the regular season with the same record. With the Reds holding the tiebreaker, the Mets need a win and a Reds loss in Milwaukee in Game 162 in order to punch their ticket to the postseason.

Around the National League East

The Nationals won a wild one in the penultimate game of their season, defeating the White Sox 6-5 thanks to game-tying and go-ahead homers by Jacob Young and James Wood respectively in the seventh inning.

The Phillies were blanked by the Twins 5-0, as Mick Abel was able (ha, see what I did there?) to stick it to his old team.

The Braves fell to the Pirates 3-1, as rising star Bubba Chandler twirled a gem against his hometown team.

Around Major League Baseball

The Guardians clinched a playoff berth yesterday in remarkable fashion: via a walk-off hit by pitch.

The Tigers finally punched their ticket to the postseason as well with a 2-1 victory over the Red Sox. But due to Detroit’s September swoon, the AL Central division title is still up for grabs today.

In a huge blow to their postseason roster, Cubs righty Cade Horton has been placed on the injured list with a fractured rib, which he suffered in his final start of the regular season against the Mets in Chicago.

Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com gives each team either already in the postseason or still competing for a spot an Urgency Index—how important it is for the franchise to win a World Series this year on a scale of 1 (least urgent) to 10 (most urgent). Not surprisingly, the defending champion Dodgers received a 1 while the Mariners and Padres rank at the top of the urgency scale. The Mets were somewhere in the middle, receiving a score of 6.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets said goodbye to both Shea Stadium and their postseason hopes on this date in 2008, which was another season that came down to the last day. Hopefully in 2025 things go differently.