The Mets’ victory Tuesday night over the Chicago Cubs was their largest comeback of the season. Unfortunately, the 2025 Mets continue to keep their fans on edge. After their inspiring win in the first game at Wrigley, they dropped a clunker Wednesday night by a score of 10-3. 

Jonah Tong, looking every bit like the rookie who only made two starts in Triple-A, lasted for just two innings and gave up five earned runs. His ERA over the first five starts of his career sits at 7.71. It was the second-straight short outing by a Mets starter, forcing manager Carlos Mendoza to start throwing spaghetti at the wall. He ran out expected Saturday tandem Clay Holmes and Sean Manaea for the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. The defensive struggles continued and the offense fell flat, drumming up only four hits. The silver lining was that one of those hits was a Francisco Alvarez two-run shot in the fifth inning. 

That set up Thursday’s rubber game as a must-win. The Reds had already claimed their own series earlier in the day, raising the stakes for New York. When asked about his expected leash on rookie phenom Nolan McLean that evening, Mendoza said, “I’m treating every game like it’s Game 7 of the World Series.” 

The Mets’ offense agreed, and jumped out to an early six-run lead. After scoring two runs in the first, Francisco Lindor hit a solo shot in the third, followed by a Bret Baty three-run blast in the fourth. The Cubs’ comeback ultimately fell short courtesy of a timely Tyrone Taylor two-run double. McLean also flashed brilliance with a career-high eleven strikeouts despite giving up three home runs to keep things close. 

In a curious move, Mendoza decided to sit both red-hot Alvarez and Jeff McNeil against the lefty starter Shota Imanaga. When asked about Alvarez’s omission from the lineup before the game, Mendoza revealed he started cramping the night before and was planning to sit him either that night or the following night. One thing is for sure: the Mets will need Alvarez’s bat in the lineup every day this weekend if they hope to gain admittance into October baseball.

Luckily, the NL Wild Card field of contenders for the final spot has dwindled over the last few days with the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins all eliminated from contention. That leaves three teams still fighting in the Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks. 

The Mets currently have sole possession of the last spot while sitting a game up on the Reds and two up on the Diamondbacks. New York doesn’t own the tiebreaker over either club, however, making it paramount that it shows up and takes advantage of an opportunity against a Marlins team that’s hungry to play spoiler.

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New York Mets (82-77)

Remaining schedule and probable starters:

Mets at Marlins – Brandon Sproat vs. Sandy Alcantara

Mets at Marlins – TBA vs. Eury Pérez

Mets at Marlins – TBA vs. Edward Cabrera

Cincinnati Reds (81-78), 1.0 GB

Cincinnati salvaged its series against the Pittsburgh Pirates by taking the finale on Thursday and avoiding a sweep. The club will now head to Milwaukee to take on the NL Central champions in the Brewers, who hope to secure the top seed in the NL. 

Remaining schedule and probable starters:

Reds at Brewers – Zack Littell vs. Quinn Priester

Reds at Brewers – Andrew Abbott vs. TBA

Reds at Brewers – Brady Singer vs. TBA

Arizona Diamondbacks (80-79), 2.0 GB

The Diamondbacks lost some ground Thursday, as they fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-0. They are now two games back of the final spot as they travel to San Diego to close out the season. 

Remaining schedule and probable starters:

Diamondbacks at Padres – Zac Gallen vs. Yu Darvish

Diamondbacks at Padres – Eduardo Rodríguez vs. Michael King

Diamondbacks at Padres – Brandon Pfaadt vs. TBA