Mets Piggyback Way to Victory Over Padres

Mets 8 Padres 3 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 78-73

Mets streak: Won 2

Last 10: 2-8

WP - Sean Manaea (2-3)

LP - Michael King (4-3)

Seat on the Korner:

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

Tonight's Mets win was a team effort, and in a sense it seems a bit strange to award the Seat on the Korner to a pitcher who came into a game with a 6 run lead. Still, the Mets pitching piggyback experiment would have been a colossal failure if Sean Manaea had blown the big lead he was handed.

Instead, the Mets lefty who has struggled mightily since the beginning of August (and 8.10 ERA since August 4th, as evidence) took over for starting pitcher Clay Holmes in the 5th inning and kept the Padres from mounting anything resembling a comeback.

In 5 innings, Manaea gave up 4 hits, with one run (a Freddy Fermin solo home run), 4 strikeouts and no walks. He threw 71 total pitches, 52 for strikes, and looked in control throughout.

The Mets would be relieved if this is the start of a new direction for 2025 Sean Manaea.

Need to Know

• The Mets opened the bottom of the first with four straight singles, the last of which was a run scoring ground ball to left field off the bat of Brandon Nimmo.

• Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Edwin Diaz each wore the number 21 to honor Hall of Famer and humanitarian Roberto Clemente. Fernando Tatis Jr. did the same on the Padres side. The rest of the players wore patches to commemorate Clemente.

• With his 3rd inning home run, Pete Alonso is now tied with 2023 Pete Alonso for the 6th most RBIs in a Mets season with 118. The franchise record belongs to...Pete Alonso, who had 131 RBIs in 2022.

• The home run was also Alonso's 121st as a Met in Citi Field, the most in team history. Number 2 on the list is Lucas Duda with 71; that's 50 fewer (!) Citi Field home runs as a member of the Mets. Right behind Duda is Francisco Lindor who hit his 70th tonight.

• Francisco wasn't the only Lindor making music at Citi Field tonight. The All-Star shortstop's wife, Katia, player the National Anthem on the violin prior to the game.

• With their 2-1 victory over the Hub City Spartanburgers tonight, the Brooklyn Cyclones became the 2025 South Atlantic League champions! This is the Cyclones first title since 2019.

Turning Point

After 4 straight singles to start the bottom of the first, the inning quickly took a turn. Mark Vientos grounded into a potential rally-killing 1-2-3 double play, leaving runners on second and third with two outs.

Jeff McNeil then stepped to the plate looking to deliver a hit that would prolong the inning and drive in a run or two. And that's precisely what he did.

McNeil grounded the first pitch, a Michael King slider, down the right field line, and the promising 1-0 lead quickly turned into a momentum-building 3-0 lead.

Three Keys

And Baty Makes Five

While the McNeil 2-RBI double salvaged the inning, turning it from a nice start to a solid one, it was the next batter, Brett Baty, who really sealed the deal.

The 2-run home run was Baty's 17th of the season. In 47 games since the All-Star break, Baty is batting .297 with 4 doubles, 8 home runs, 17 RBIs, 16 walks, and 4 stolen bases. His post All-Star break OPS is now .854.

Clay Ball

The piggyback approach was not just about Sean Manaea. Starter Clay Holmes did a great job of keeping the Padres at bay after the Mets opened up their early lead. By the time Holmes handed the mound over to Manaea, he had thrown 4 innings, giving up 2 runs (two solo home runs), on 3 hits with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts, one of which was a rare K of Padres infielder Luis Arraez.

Mullins Time

Center Fielder Cedric Mullins, who has yet to find consistent footing in the Mets lineup, hit his first Citi Field home run as a member of the team. While he is still 120 away from tying Pete Alonso's team record, the Mets are hoping that tonight's will be the first of a few in the final weeks of the season.