PHILADELPHIA — After a season-high seven losses, the Mets have had enough.
The offensive woes and pitching woes continued for the Mets on Friday night in a 10-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. It’s been tough to shuffle the pitching rotation, and tough to shuttle guys back and forth from Triple-A to make up for injuries, but the Mets aren’t using injuries as an excuse.
“It’s just not our standard,” said first baseman Pete Alonso. “How we’ve been playing doesn’t match the talent or the standards that we set for ourselves.”
Rookie right-hander Blade Tidwell gave up two in the fourth, and Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil hit home runs to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Then, the Mets promptly imploded. Right-handers Reed Garrett and Justin Garza combined to give up six runs in the bottom of the seventh. Two of those runs scored almost simultaneously, with Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto crossing the plate within inches of each other.
That’s the two for one special pic.twitter.com/TWOhnXzaI9
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 21, 2025
No team goes through the season without scuffling, but with the way the Phillies and the Atlanta Braves are playing, the timing could make things difficult for the Mets late in the season.
The pitching staff, once the best in the league, has given up 51 runs over the last seven games. The big hitters haven’t hit. The Mets loaded the bases in the first inning, only to leave them loaded.
“Chase is one of the things that we’ve been doing as of late,” Mendoza said. “Especially with runners in scoring position, or whenever they get ahead, we’re missing our pitches early in the count and then they’re making us chase.”
It’s been an especially rough stretch for Francisco Lindor, who has gone 0-for-18 over the last five games and struck out six times. A few days ago in Atlanta, the shortstop said he could be better, and that he understands that he needs to be better.
Lindor is more than just a leadoff hitter, he’s a key team leader. He sets the tone for the entire offense with the Mets often going the way Lindor goes. He has a .341 average and a 1.024 OPS in wins, but in losses, he’s hitting less than .200. Much like the rest of the lineup, Lindor is also chasing pitches outside of the zone.
“I felt like he wasn’t seeing the ball of [Zack] Wheeler, swinging pitches out of the strike zone,” Mendoza said, “When he’s at his best, obviously he controls the strike zone and he doesn’t miss pitches. Right now, I feel like he’s going outside of the strike zone.”
Wheeler shut out his former team over five innings, striking out eight and scattering four hits, walking three and striking out eight. The Mets battled him, making him throw nearly 100 pitches, and knocking him out of the game early.
The Phillies went to right-hander Taijuan Walker, another former Mets starting pitcher, and Alonso and McNeil proceeded to go back-to-back with home runs, tying the game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth. Luis Torrens singled off Walker with one out, giving the Mets a chance to rally.
The rally never happened. Left-hander Tanner Banks retired Brett Baty and Tyrone Taylor to end the inning, and retired the top of the order in the top of the seventh.
“The funny thing about baseball is it’s nine innings, and every moment, whether it’s good or bad, is fleeting in baseball because you have to play a complete nine innings,” Alonso said. “Tonight, I don’t think we played the full baseball game.”
Garrett faced five hitters in the bottom without recording an out. Brandon Marsh and Trea Turner hit back-to-back doubles to break the tie, Kyle Schwarber walked and Alec Bohm scored Turner on a line drive that went past a diving Alonso at first.
Back on top 4-2, Castellanos made it 5-2 with a single off Garza.
“I feel like stuff is there,” Mendoza said of Garrett. “With the way everything’s going right now, it seems like every ball finds a hole.”
Tidwell was sharp over the first few innings of his second big league game, but around the fourth inning, he lost his edge. Called up earlier in the day to make a spot start, Tidwell crammed like it was a test to study the Philadelphia lineup. He showcased a hard fastball and a gyro slider with a ton of movement, and worked quickly the first time through the order.
Limited to only 60-70 pitches, the 24-year-old Tidwell threw 74 of them, with Mendoza wanting left-hander Jose Castillo to face No. 9 hitter Brandon Marsh, another lefty. Tidwell was charged with two earned runs on four hits, walked three and struck out four over 4 2/3 innings. The stuff is clearly there for Tidwell. The 6-4 righty out of Tennessee is rated a top pitching prospect for a reason, and this was a preview of what’s to come. Still, there is some refining for him to do in Triple-A.
And plenty of work for the Mets (45-31) to do in the big leagues weekend after slipping to second in the NL East behind the Phillies (46-30).
“Collectively as a group, whether it’s defensively, offensively, we’re not necessarily in sync on either side of the ball right now,” Alonso said. “So I just think, as a whole group, we’re not just not playing clean baseball. We’re not playing up to our potential.”