After 2,705 Days in a Bear Market, Stock Finally Makes a Gain in Mets 3-2 Win Over Rays

Mets 3 Rays 2 (Tropicana Field, Tampa, FL)

Mets record: 62-76

Mets streak: Won 1

WP - Robert Stock (1-3)

LP - Ian Seymour (9-6)

SV - Kodia Senga (5)

Seat on the Korner: Robert Stock

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

Robert Stock has spent most of this season looking like a bad investment. On Monday night, he finally delivered a return. Stock earned his first major-league victory since April 5, 2019, when he won for Andy Green's San Diego Padres against St. Louis, ending a 2,705-day drought that stretched seven years, four months and 26 days. And he did it by turning in perhaps his most important outing of the season: 5⅓ scoreless innings, five hits, no walks and four strikeouts, becoming the first time in his career that he recorded an out in the sixth inning. Stock entered the night with a 7.40, but that number doesn't tell the whole story. Two disastrous outings accounted for 15 of the 18 runs he had surrendered this season. In his other five starts, Stock had allowed just three runs—only two earned—in 19 innings. So perhaps there really is a better Robert Stock hiding somewhere inside that 5.88 ERA. On this night, the Mets finally found him—and after 2,705 days in the bear market, Stock was finally a winning investment again.

Need to Know

• Prior to the game Luis Robert Jr. was been claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles.

• The Mets announced that Mark Vientos has been activated from the 10-Day IL. The last game that Vientos played on rehab featured six Syracuse pitchers combining on the organization's first nine-inning no-hitter since 1971. And Mark Vientos celebrated by hitting three home runs in the same game, going 4-for-5 with five RBI.

• The Mets begin a three-game series with the first-place Rays, continuing a brutal stretch against division leaders. New York has recently faced the first-place White Sox, Brewers and Astros.

• Tampa Bay streak ends at won four straight they have won six of its last eight after going 2-7 from August 14-22. They enter the series with an 82-54 record.

• The Rays have spent 66 consecutive days in first place in the AL East and have held the American League's best record for 105 days.

• Tampa Bay has already clinched a winning season. The Rays reached 82 wins before the end of August, something the franchise has accomplished only a handful of times. Their last winning season was 2023.

• The series opening win by the Mets will prevent the sweep happy Rays from sweeping the series .Tampa Bay has 14 series sweeps this season, tied for the most in franchise history and the most by any team since 2022.

• The Mets haven't exactly enjoyed this matchup. New York ended a streak of having lost six straight to Tampa Bay and 11 of its last 14 against the Rays. The win also ended a streak of eight consecutive losses at Tropicana Field.

• The Rays lead the all-time series 23-17, including an 11-8 advantage at home.

• The Mets kept Tampa Bay in the yard which is important as the Rays are 40-1 this season when they hit more home runs than its opponent. The Rays have won 27 consecutive games in that situation.

  
  

Turning Point

The game may have turned on Christopher Morel's glove rather than his bat. With two outs in the fifth and the bases loaded, Morel made a leaping catch in left field to rob Jonathan Aranda, ending the inning and preserving the Mets' 1-0 lead. It was the kind of play that doesn't show up in the box score nearly as dramatically as it should. Had Morel not made that catch, all three runners would have scored, and instead of walking out of the fifth inning still ahead 1-0, the Mets would have found themselves trailing 3-1. Stock found himself in trouble, through no fault of his own as Francisco Lindor misplayed a double play ball leaving Tampa Bay with a big inning staring it right in the face, and Morel literally reached up and took it away. In a game decided by a single run, that catch wasn't just spectacular—it may have been the difference between winning and losing.

Three Keys

That's going to leave a Mark

Mark Vientos returned from the injured list Monday night, less than 24 hours after putting on a show in Syracuse with three home runs, and Andy Green had already made it clear earlier in the week that what happens next is largely up to Vientos. Speaking with reporters before Wednesday’s game against Milwaukee, the Mets’ interim manager was candid about Vientos’ future, saying his role would be dictated by how the other players perform—and, more importantly, by what Vientos does with the opportunities he gets. Green pointed back to the talent Vientos showed in 2024, when he hit nearly 30 home runs despite not even beginning the season with the big-league club, essentially challenging him to prove that player is still in there. Consider the message received. In his return to the Mets lineup, Vientos launched his 12th home run of the season, a towering 418-foot blast to left-center, driving in his 36th run. After yesterday’s three-homer eruption in Syracuse, Vientos has certainly gotten his manager’s attention. Now comes the harder part: turning those flashes of power into the kind of sustained production that forces Green to give him more at-bats.

Former Mets, Former Rays, All Making Their Mark

There was a little bit of baseball symmetry woven throughout this one, as a collection of former Mets and former Rays found themselves playing important roles against their old organizations. Christopher Morel, who spent two seasons with Tampa Bay, made two key defensive plays, including the leaping catch that preserved the Mets’ 1-0 lead in the fifth. Nate Lavender, who was on the Rays’ roster but never actually pitched for Tampa Bay, came off the Mets’ bullpen and delivered two-thirds of a scoreless inning. Chris Devenski, who spent two seasons with the Rays, recorded one of the biggest outs of the night when he retired former Met Cedric Mullins in a critical spot. And then there was Steven Matz, who spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Mets before eventually finding his way to Tampa Bay. Matz closed out the ninth with a scoreless inning, striking out pinch-hitter Juan Soto to put the finishing touch on a night when the ghosts of both clubs’ pasts seemed to have a hand in the present.

Senga Ghosts the Forkball and uses Fastball to notch 5th Save

Kodai Senga entered with the Mets clinging to a 3-2 lead and immediately found himself in trouble, walking Jonny DeLuca to open the inning. But rather than panic, Senga went back to his fastball and relied on it to finish the job. After Richie Palacios grounded into a force play that left DeLuca out at second, Senga got Taylor Walls to fly out to Carson Benge in right before striking out Yandy Díaz looking to end the inning. Senga threw 12 pitches, seven for strikes, and most importantly, kept Tampa Bay off the scoreboard to preserve Robert Stock’s victory. His fastball was especially encouraging, with his velocity up more than two ticks from last season—from 92.3 mph to 94.4 mph—and on this night, Senga trusted that extra life to get three big outs and keep Stock’s long-awaited win intact.