After another series loss to the Phillies, the Mets headed north to take on the Blue Jays in Toronto. Bo Bichette was making his return to the Rogers Centre after six-plus seasons as a member of the Blue Jays. Sean Manaea was getting the start against the Mets, facing off against rookie phenom Trey Yesavage.
The game definitely could’ve had a better start for the Mets. After a top of the first where Juan Soto doubled with one out and was promptly stranded at second, they followed that up with an incredibly
embarrassing bottom of the inning. George Springer led off the inning with what was probably only a single if fielded correctly, but when it bounced past Soto it turned into a triple. But before he got to third, A.J. Ewing bobbled the ball which allowed Springer to score. It was the only blip on Manaea’s radar in the first inning, but it was another bad look for a team familiar with looking bad in 2026.
It was a quiet back-and-forth after the first, with both sides trading a baserunner here or there but both Manaea and Yesavage keeping things mostly locked down. In the bottom of the fifth, Manaea found himself in a bit of trouble. Luis Urías led off with a double, and was moved to third on a Yohendrick Piñango ground out. Myles Straw hit a sacrifice fly to drive Urías in as the second run of the game for the Blue Jays.
Manaea lasted only a few more batters, exiting with two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the sixth. He left having allowed two earned runs on three hits and two walks, with four strikeouts on his ledger. Warren got the Mets through the sixth inning without allowing either baserunner to score.
The Mets showed signs of life in the top of the seventh. After a delay of game after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. not being on the field when the inning was supposed to begin, Francisco Lindor hit a solo home run to lead off the inning. Ewing was hit by a pitch with one out, and after giving up a deep fly out to Mark Vientos, Yesavage was finally pulled from the game in favor of Mason Fluharty. The Mets ran themselves out of the inning, when Ewing was thrown out trying to steal second during Eric Wagaman’s (pinch-hitting for Brett Baty) at-bat.
The Mets had an up-and-down eighth inning on both ends. Facing former Met Tyler Rogers in the top of the inning, Ronny Mauricio led off with a hit…swinging his bat and hitting Francisco Alvarez when both were inexplicably in the on-deck circle. Alvarez recovered well enough to hit a one-out double. After Juan Soto was intentionally walked with two outs, Bo Bichette came up with an opportunity to show out in his former home. But he grounded out, stranding both runners and keeping the Mets in the deficit. In the bottom of the inning, Austin Warren got himself into trouble, giving up a walk and a single to lead off the inning. He was pulled in favor of the newly-recalled Joey Gerber who got two strikeouts with a fly out in between to strand both runners and keep it a one-run game.
In the top of the ninth, the Mets threatened, with a single and a walk putting two runners on with just one out. But Vientos and Mauricio struck out as the second and third outs, closing the book on the first game of the series in Toronto and handing the Mets their fifth loss in six games, putting them 15 games below .500. They face the Blue Jays again tomorrow, with Nolan McLean getting the start and Kevin Gausman starting for the Blue Jays.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: A.J. Ewing, +10% WPA
Big Mets loser: Mark Vientos, -26% WPA
Mets pitchers: +10% WPA
Mets hitters: -60% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor’s home run in the seventh, +12.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos’s ninth inning strikeouts, -14.0% WPA each
