Baseball Like It Should Have Been

Mets 6, Phillies 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets Record: 35-48

Mets Streak: W1

Mets Last 10: 3-7

WP: AJ Minter (1-1)

LP: Alan Rangel (0-1)

Seat On The Korner: Juan Soto

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.

Thruthfully, the Mets 6-2 victory over the Phillies was a team effort, with many players deserving of the Seat on the Korner. In fact, it was one of the more solid games the Mets have played all season (admittedly, the bar is low). Still, there is something to be said for a star player coming through, more than once, when the team is searching desperately for signs of hope, or life. Juan Soto came through twice last night. The first was in the bottom of the 6th inning, when the Mets, down 2-0, were just looking for a hit to get something started. Soto singled to right field, and two batters later, the game was tied 2-2. More directly impactful was just an inning later when Soto's RBI triple gave the Mets an always-welcomed insurance run, making the score 5-2, and allowing the team and their fans a moment to exhale. One batter later, Soto scored the team's 6th run on a Bo Bichette sacrifice fly. And naturally, the reward for all of this is the Seat on the Korner.

Need To Know:

• Andy Green is the 26th Mets manager and with his first Mets win, he is now ranked 9th with a .500 winning percentage (yes, yes, I know, he's 2 games into his interim stint).

• The Mets are now 10-11 against the NL East.

• This was the 11th game this season that Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor played together. Or, to look at it another way, every 11 games that Soto and Lindor play together they both hit triples.

• While it took a couple months longer than fans had hoped, Bo Bichette has been pretty much as advertised over his last 22 games. Over that span he is batting .367 (33-90), with 16 runs scored, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 5 HRs, and 18 RBIs. In fact, if you want to go even further (and who doesn't), since May 17th, Bichette is batting .307 (47-153), with 25 runs scored, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 8 homers, and 28 RBIs.

• In Sunday's series finale, Jesus Luzardo gets the ball for the Phillies while the Mets will counter with an opened of Cionel Perez. Kodai Senga will likely be the first reliever in for the Mets.

  
  

Turning Point:

Much like mentioned in Juan Soto's Seat on the Korner writeup above, for the Mets to feel some manner of hope in the second half of the season, they're going to need to see their stars come through. Sure, it's nice when Eric Wagaman provides a surprise home run, and it's gratifying to see Jared Young come through, but if the Mets are going to do anything of note in these remaining 80 games, they're going to have to be able to rely on their headliners. In the 6th inning of the Mets 6-2 victory over the Phillies, Francisco Lindor got the memo. His 1-out 2-run triple tied the game at 2 and put the potential go-ahead run on third with less than two outs.

Three Keys:

The Outfield of the Future...Today

While Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor earned the Seat on the Korner and the Turning Point highlights above, the Mets win also relied on key contributions from their rookie outfielders. AJ Ewing and Carson Benge combined to go 4-9 with a run scored and 2 RBIs.

Ewing's bases loaded 2-run single in the bottom of the 6th put the Mets ahead to stay, while Benge's leadoff single in the bottom ignited a rally that brought home 2 much-appreciated insurance runs.

Over his last 4 games, Ewing is batting .462 (6-13), with home run, a double, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, 3 walks, and a stolen base. He has reached base safely in 33 of his first 43 major league games and has at least one hit in 26 of those games. Great Scott

Christian Scott came of a relatively short sting on the IL to breathe some life into the Mets starting rotation. And while he was unable to go deep into the game, Scott made the most of his 4.1 winnings. After pitching out of a bit of trouble in the first inning, the young righty set the Phillies down with ease in the 2nd and 3rd. In the 4th, however, he yielded an opposite field 2-run home run to Phillies first baseman, and Mets long-time nemesis, Bryce Harper. This was Harper's 43rd career home run against the Mets. Scott went right back to business though, and was removed after a one-out walk in the fifth, having thrown 82 pitches on the night. In all, Scott allowed 2 runs on three hits with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts in his 4.1 innings of work.

Through 19 career Major League starts, Scott has allowed four or fewer runs in each of them. Scott is the only starting pitcher in franchise history to allow four or fewer runs in his first 19 Major League games. Scott is only the 12th starter in Major League history to accomplish this feat.

Mint(er) Condition

Much has been asked of the Mets bullpen pitchers this year, and by and large they've come through. Saturday night was no different, and leading the charge was veteran lefty, AJ Minter. Dating back to April of 2025, Minter has now gone 24 straight appearances without allowing an earned run. He has pitched 22 innings in that span, allowing just 10 hits, 2 unearned runs, and five walks, while striking out 22. And on Saturday night, his 1.1 innings of 1-hit ball earned him his first win for the Mets. Not to be overlooked, the rest of the relievers did their part. Huascar Brazoban, Jeff Weaver, and Devin Williams combined to pitch 3 innings, giving up 1 hit, while striking out 3 and walking 1.