Holmes Sweet Holmes, Mark It Down: Vientos Powers Mets to Much-Needed 5-1 Win in Anaheim

Mets 5 Angels 1 (Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA)

Mets record: 12-22

Mets streak: Won 1

WP - Clay Holmes (4-2)

LP - Jack Kochanowicz (2-1)

Seat on the Korner: Clay Holmes

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.

Clay Holmes takes home the Seat on the Korner after yet another outing that looked less like a start and more like a masterclass in controlled chaos. Even on a day when he didn’t have his cleanest opening frame—working through 17 pitches to the first two hitters—he settled in and did what aces do: he bent the game back into his favor. Holmes finished 6.2 innings allowing just 1 earned run on 4 hits with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts, grinding his way through 99 pitches (71 strikes) and still managing to carry the Mets deep into the game despite the early stress.

For the season, Holmes continues to operate in elite company, now sitting at 4-2 with a sparkling 1.69 ERA (8 ER/42.2 IP), 31 strikeouts and is holding opposing batters to a .184 (28-152). Zooming out even further, since the start of last season he’s delivered 24 starts of at least five innings with two earned runs or few. On a day when the Mets desperately needed stability, Holmes once again gave them exactly that, and then some. Ralph reaches into the gift box and it's a gift certificate to Ponte's Steak House for Clay.

Need to Know

• Today was the final meeting (2-1) this season between the Angels and Mets. Last year, New York swept the three-game season series at Citi Field

  from July 21-23, 2025 (first ever sweep by either team in series history)...This is the Mets first visit to Angel Stadium since Aug. 2-4, 2024 (Angels won two of three)...NYM leads the all-time series 18-15.

• Prior to today's game The Mets called up Vidal Bruján from Triple-A Syracuse who arrived mid game, and designated Eric Wagaman for assignment. The Mets also officially placed Ronny Mauricio on the 10-day IL with a left thumb fracture.

• This season Clay Holmes is 4-2 with a 1.69 ERA(8 ER/42.2 IP), 31 strikeouts and is holding opposing batters to a .184 (28-152).

• The Mets ended a streak of 16 straight losses in the 34th game of the season dating back to 2010.

• Soto streak of having reached base safely came to an end at 18 games. It is his longest streak to begin a season in his career....Since returning from the Injured List on April 22 he is batting .314 (11-35) with nine walks.

• Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz made his 7th start of the season today.Over his last six starts, he has gone 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA (33.1 IP - 9 ER) and 27 SO...He failed in his bid to win three consecutive decisions for the first time in his career.

• Jorge Soler first inning RBI single extending his streak of reaching base safely to 23 consecutive games, which ties his longest streak in 2024,

  and is the fourth-longest active streak in the Majors

• Mike Trout is a career .381 (21/55) hitter across 14 career games against the Mets, which is his second-highest average against any opponent (.400 vs. Brewers)..He has reached base safely in all 14 of his career games vs. NYM.

• Zach Neto worked one of the grind-it-out at-bats of the game in the first inning, battling Clay Holmes through an 11-pitch sequence that featured multiple full-count resets, a heavy diet of mid-90s sinkers, and eight total fouls before Holmes finally issued the walk after missing just off the edge with a sinker to run the count full. He would come around to score the first run of the game. Somehow despite starting the game with the 11 pitch at bat, Holmes made into to the seventh inning throwing a total of 99 pitches.

Turning Point

Given the way this Mets season has gone, even a 1-0 deficit can feel like a wall they’re not built to climb. They had been trailing since the first inning again, stuck in that familiar early game fog where runs feel scarce and momentum even scarcer. But baseball has a way of flipping the script in one swing, and in the top of the fourth, Mark Vientos delivered the jolt that changed everything.

The inning began quietly with Marcus Semien striking out swinging, but Carson Benge worked an eight pitch walk to keep the line moving. That’s when Vientos stepped in and didn’t just tie the game—he rewrote its direction. He launched his third homer of the season, a two-run 427 foot shot to center that carried Benge home and suddenly flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 Mets lead. From there, Tyrone Taylor and Luis Torrens were retired to end the frame, but the damage was already done. For a team that’s spent much of the year chasing games and good fortune, this was the rare moment where one swing didn’t just change the score—it changed the feel of the afternoon.

Three Keys

On Your Mark ...

With Ronny Mauricio’s injury once again forcing the Mets to reshuffle the infield, Mark Vientos suddenly found himself in a much larger spotlight—and more time at first base, with Brett Baty sliding to third and Bo Bichette handling shortstop duties. He entered the day still searching for consistency on the road trip, hitting just .250 (1-for-4) with a double and two strikeouts, but the moment didn’t overwhelm him. Instead, it unlocked him. Vientos responded with one of his most impactful performances of the season, going 2-for-4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs, including the game-flipping two-run blast that erased an early deficit and gave the Mets a lead and a two run shot in the 8th to give the Mets a 4 run cushion. In a season defined by constant lineup shuffling, Vientos didn’t just fill a hole—he swung the game.

Can you Say "Run Prevention" I Knew you Could

Who said the Mets’ run-prevention mantra was a joke? On a day when every out mattered and every baserunner felt like a potential turning point, the Mets backed up their pitching with a defensive clinic that kept the game firmly in their control. MJ Melendez set the tone with a diving catch in the sixth, robbing extra bases and halting a potential rally before it could breathe.

In the seventh, Bo Bichette showed why the Mets are leaning on him at shortstop, ranging deep in the hole and firing a strong, on-target throw to first to erase a runner and steal an out that mattered more than the score at the time suggested.

Then, fittingly, Carson Benge saved the best for last, laying out for a diving catch in the ninth that sealed the atmosphere and slammed the door on any lingering Angels hopes. It wasn’t just clean defense—it was timely, urgent, and exactly the kind of run prevention the Mets have been preaching.

Dream Weaver Put it in the B(r)ooks.

The Mets bullpen once again did exactly what this depleted roster needed—put the game in a straitjacket and refused to let it breathe. Luke Weaver set the tone with a sharp 1.1-inning outing, allowing just one hit while striking out three and picking up his fourth hold of the season, slamming the door on any early Angels momentum trying to build.

From there, Brooks Raley took over in the ninth and handled the final frame with veteran poise, giving up a lone single but striking out two to close things out and secure the win. In a season where the bullpen has often been asked to carry extra weight, this was a clean, efficient finish that turned a close game into a controlled Mets victory..