The New York Mets (77-73) continue their playoff push as they welcome the postseason-bound San Diego Padres (82-68) to Citi Field for three critical games. The Mets trail San Diego for the second Wild Card spot, but right now the team has its eyes set more on the teams behind them on the teams in front of them. The Padres swept a series from New York earlier this year at Citi Field, so any loss here would also cede the tiebreaker over to San Diego. The Padres find themselves five games up on New York with
12 to play.
The Mets are coming off dropping two out of three to the Texas Rangers over the weekend. Friday night’s contest featured the long-awaited return of Jacob deGrom to the Citi Field mound, but things did not go well for the team’s young ace Jonah Tong in a 8-3 loss. Tong lasted just 2/3 of an inning and allowed six runs, and that was pretty much all she wrote for New York. Francisco Alvarez hit a solo homer that started a three-run fourth for the Mets, but they would not get much else against deGrom as their old ace earned his 96th career victory.
While Friday night’s loss was a laugher, Saturday’s 3-2 loss was a real heartbreaker. Following a fun Alumni Classic game that saw legends from past Mets teams play an exhibition game in front of a nostalgic fan base. While the crowd was hoping the team would bring back memories of their past playoff teams, they did a better imitation of the 2007/2008 squads that collapsed in September. Juan Soto homered to become the first 40/30 player in franchise history, but a catcher’s interference call in the eighth resulted in two unearned runs. Edwin Díaz allowed a run in the ninth and the Mets could not respond in the bottom half of the frame as the team wasted six shutout frames from Brandon Sproat.
Sunday’s game was a similar script with the Mets blowing a lead but had a happier ending as the Mets won 5-2 in walk-off fashion. The Mets got another great start from their youngster, as Nolan McLean tossed six scoreless frames. A Soto run-scoring ground out in the fifth and a Brandon Nimmo home run in the sixth made it 2-0, but the Rangers scored two in the seventh to tie up the game. Things remained tied until the bottom of the tenth, when Pete Alonso unloaded on a three-run shot to right field—the 260th dinger of his Mets career—to put the Mets back in the ‘Win’ column and end their eight-game skid. For people looking for good omens, the homer looked very similar to his home run in Game 3 of the Wild Card round last year.
While we already took a deep dive look at the Wild Card race, the tl;dr version is that the Mets enter play tonight 1.5 games clear of the Diamondbacks, who are now their closest competitor after beating the Giants last night. Both San Francisco and Cincinnati, who won last night, are tied at 75-75, two games back of the Mets. New York owns the tiebreaker on the Giants but would lose the tiebreaker to the Reds; meanwhile, the tiebreaker between the Diamondbacks and Mets will be determined based on whoever has a better record against their own division since the two teams split their season series in 2025. At this time, it’s Arizona, who are 24-20 against the NL West—the Mets are 23-20 against the NL East—but a lot can change between now and the end of the season.
The Padres enter this series after taking three out of four from the lowly Rockies. Prior to that, they dropped two of three to the Reds. Overall, they’ve gone 6-7 in September entering play today. They currently find themselves firmly in the NL’s second Wild Card spot, five games ahead of the Mets and four games behind the Cubs for the top Wild Card spot, so they still have a bit to play for. When looking at the bigger picture, they’re only two games behind the Dodgers, so the NL West is also in play for San Diego. Unfortunately for them, they don’t play Los Angeles over these final two weeks, so they will have to hope that the Dodgers slip up along the way.
On offense, the Padres are, as always, led by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Tatis Jr. enters play slashing .264/.367/.438 with a team-best 102 runs scored and 30 stolen bases in 146 games. He has also edged out Machado in OPS by two points, .804 to .802, and in wRC+ 129 to 125. Machado leads the club with 25 home runs and 88 runs batted in while hitting .277/.338/.464 in a team-high 149 games. The Mets will miss Xander Bogaerts, who is gearing up to return from his injury during the final week of the regular season. Bogaerts is hitting .262/.330/.387 with 10 home runs, 60 runs scored, 49 runs batted in, 20 stolen bases, and a 103 wRC+ in 131 games.
Tuesday, September 16: Clay Holmes vs. Michael King, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Holmes (2025): 151.0 IP, 122 K, 62 BB, 12 HR, 3.75 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 92 ERA-
This is not going to be a typical Holmes start, as the team has strongly hinted that they will piggyback Sean Manaea in this outing after moving the scuffling left-hander into the bullpen. It’s a smart move for new York, since Holmes cannot go more than five innings at this point and it’s probably the best use of Manaea out of the pen. Holmes has lost his last two starts to begin the month and has failed to complete in five innings in both. His last time out, he went four and allowed four earned runs on six hits, with five strikeouts and three walks in a loss to the Phillies. The team did piggyback Holes and Manaea once this year back on July 13, and it worked very well despite the results (a 3-2 loss to the Royals).
King (2025): 62.2 IP, 67 K, 20 BB, 8 HR, 2.87 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 70 ERA-
King has had a really frustrating year after finishing seventh in Cy Young voting last year. The right-hander got off to a terrific start and looked well on his way to another great year, posting a 2.59 ERA across his first 10 starts through May 18. He then landed on the IL with a nerve issue that affected his throwing shoulder. He went on to miss almost three full months before returning against the Red Sox on August 9. He lasted just two innings in that start before being lifted and eventually landing back on the IL with left knee inflammation, a symptom of his quick ramp up and return to the majors. He finally returned for real on September 9 against Cincinnati, pitching five innings and allowing two earned runs (two solo homers) on three hits, with two strikeouts and one walk.
Wednesday, September 17: David Peterson vs. Nick Pivetta, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Peterson (2025): 162.1 IP, 148 K, 60 BB, 10 HR, 3.77 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 92 ERA-
It’s been a rough road for Peterson since the start of August, as the 2025 NL All-Star has not had the best second chance since receiving the honor. In seven starts since August 6, the left-hander has pitched to a 7.13 ERA (but a 3.26 FIP) with a 1.64 WHIP in 35 1/3 innings. In that stretch, he’s walking batters at a 10.6% clip after walking batters at an 8.2% clip in his first 127 innings. The Mets have lost five of the seven games he’s started in that stretch. His last time out, he went five innings and allowed three earned runs on seven hits, with eight strikeouts and one walk against Philadelphia as he settled for a no decision.
Pivetta (2025): 171.1 IP, 180 K, 45 BB, 19 HR, 2.73 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 67 ERA-
Pivetta is having a career year in his first year or San Diego after spending the past five seasons with the Red Sox. The right-hander has already posted a career-best 5.4 bWAR with a couple of starts left to make and is eight strikeouts away from the career high he set with the Phillies in 2018. He has also set a new career high with 13 wins and has only lost five games. He settled for a no decision his last time out, through no fault of his own. He pitched seven shutout frames against the Reds back on September 10, scattering four hits while striking out eight and walking one. Over his last six starts, he owns a 1.96 ERA, a 3.23 FIP, and a 0.93 WHIP in 36 2/3 innings. During that run, he’s striking out 28.3% of batters while walking 6.9% of hitters he’s faced.
Thursday, September 18: Jonah Tong vs. Dylan Cease, 1:10 PM EDT on SNY
Tong (2025): 11.2 IP, 13 K, 7 BB, 3 HR, 8.49 ERA, 6.06 FIP, 207 ERA-
Tong has not officially been announced for Thursday, but with the team going back to a five-man rotation this will likely be his turn to pitch. He will look to get back on the horse after a catastrophic start against the Rangers on Friday. Tong could not escape the first inning as he was tattooed for six earned runs on four hits and three walks. Tong showed a lot of emotion after the start, a reminder that he’s just 22 years old with only two Triple-A starts under his belt and the weight of the team’s postseason dreams laying on his and two other rookies’ shoulders.
Cease (2025): 157.0 IP, 201 K, 66 BB, 20 HR, 4.59 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 112 ERA-
After a great first year with San Diego—he finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting and 22nd in the NL MVP race—Cease has regressed in his second season with the Padres. Still, with six strikeouts in his last outing, he reached 200 punch outs for the fifth consecutive season, which is an impressive feat and speaks to his ability to stay health and consistent. He has picked up wins in two straight starts, both against Colorado. His last time out against the Rockies, he allowed one earned run on five hits over six innings. Prior to that, he allowed one earned run on four hits in five innings at Coors Field.
