Mets' Jonah Tong can't get out of first inning in loss to Rangers, Jacob deGrom
Mets rookie starter Jonah Tong, left, and Rangers starter Jacob deGrom on Friday night at Citi Field. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets went into Friday night with three rookie starters lined up to face the Rangers in a big series at Citi Field.
Crazy, right?
“Crazy? Probably,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before Jonah Tong opened against former Mets ace Jacob deGrom.
The first inning of the first night of the gambit couldn’t have gone much worse, and the Mets lost their seventh in a row, 8-3, before 41,040.
Tong was gone after two-thirds of an inning with the Mets trailing 6-0.
Heading to the bottom of the first, all the Mets needed to do was score at least seven runs in a game started by deGrom. They did not, as deGrom (12-7, 2.82 ERA) allowed three runs in seven innings in his first start against the Mets since he signed with Texas as a free agent before the 2023 season.
The Mets honored him with a pregame video and he tipped his cap to the crowd.
The Mets agreed it was nice to see deGrom. It was not nice to be down 6-0 before he threw a pitch.
“You’re down six in the first inning and you’re going against deGrom, it’s not an easy task,” Mendoza said. “We’re showing at times that we can get back in games. But today it wasn’t the case.”
The Mets are a half-game ahead of the Giants in the battle for the third National League wild-card spot. They remained 1 1⁄2 games ahead of Cincinnati.
“Obviously, very concerned,” Brandon Nimmo said after the Mets (76-72) dropped to 31-48 since June 13. “We want to be in the playoffs and we’re not playing playoff baseball right now. But you’ve got to come in tomorrow expecting things to change.”
The Mets’ rookie pitching parade will continue on Saturday as Brandon Sproat makes his second big-league start. Nolan McLean goes Sunday in his sixth start (the righthander is 4-1 with a 1.42 ERA).
Texas’ strategy against Tong in his third big-league start was obvious. The Rangers took 18 of his first 19 pitches. That resulted in a walk, a strikeout looking, another walk and a 3-and-2 count on Jake Burger.
Tong got Burger to fly out to center for the second out, but Josh Jung blooped an RBI single to right and, on the next pitch, Alejandro Osuna lined a run-scoring single to left for a 2-0 lead.
After another walk, Cody Freeman hit a two-run single. Michael Helman finished Tong’s night with a two-run double that made it 6-0.
Tong, who came in with a 4.09 ERA, saw it climb to 8.49. The 22-year-old allowed four hits and walked three. Of his 40 pitches, 20 were strikes.
Afterward, Tong was extremely choked up as he spoke softly about his outing. Tears didn’t flow, but they appeared to be right below the surface.
“I didn’t give the start I had for sure wanted,” he said. “And definitely hurts that it put more stress on the bullpen.”
To add insult to injury, deGrom retired the Mets in the bottom of the first on three groundouts. It took six pitches.
The Mets cut the Rangers’ lead in half in a three-run third. Francisco Alvarez homered and a pair of runs came home on sacrifice flies by Juan Soto and Pete Alonso.
DeGrom gave up three consecutive hits to start the inning and then did not give up another one the rest of the night. He retired the final 15 batters he faced. DeGrom (88 pitches) allowed four hits, walked none and struck out two.
The game stayed 6-3 until the seventh, when Texas pinch hitter Dylan Moore crushed a two-run homer off Gregory Soto.
The Rangers have won five in a row and 16 of 21 to thrust themselves back into the American League wild-card race.
In a strange twist, former Mets ace Kodai Senga also pitched on Friday — for Triple-A Syracuse. Senga agreed to a minor-league demotion last week to try to get his mechanics worked out. In six innings against Worcester, Senga allowed one run and three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.
Mendoza would not commit to another start for Tong, so Senga could be back in play soon.
Notes & quotes: The Mets held a moment of silence for former manager Davey Johnson, who died Sept. 5 at age 82 . . . Jeff McNeil was ejected by plate umpire Scott Barry for vehemently objecting to a low strike three call in the fourth.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
