Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader reacts after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Marlins on Friday in Miami. (Megan Briggs / Getty Images)
Moments later, the same fan removed the ball from his son's glove and gave it to a woman who claimed that it rightfully belonged to her.
Days after the now-viral incident occurred during the fourth inning of the Phillies' 9-3 win over the Marlins on Friday in Miami, Drew Feltwell explained to NBC-10 in Philadelphia that he decided in the moment to "be Dad and show him how to de-escalate the situation" — something he determined was more important than providing Lincoln with a really cool game souvenir.
"We were there to get a home run ball," said Feltwell, a Florida resident whose wife and daughter were also at the game. "So I thought I had accomplished this great thing. And putting it in his glove meant a lot. She was just so adamant and loud and yelling and persistent, and I just didn't want to deal with it anymore.
"There was hundreds of people just staring. And like I said, she was very, very, very close, and I'm Dad of the family, so I didn't want to do something I'd regret. And that was the choice I made, just hand the ball back and tell her go away."
Feltwell said he was the first to get to the ball after it landed in an empty seat "down a couple seats" to his right. He said he was starting to walk away with the ball when other people, including the woman who eventually confronted him, started grabbing for it.
"I guess she just thought that that was her ball, because it was in front of her," Feltwell said. "That's fine, but she was too slow."
Lincoln didn't leave the game empty-handed though. A Marlins representative visited the family at their seats and presented the boy with a bag full of souvenirs. Then a Phillies representative invited the family to meet Bader outside the team clubhouse after the game. There, the nine-year veteran who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline signed a bat for Lincoln and posed for pictures with the group.
Lincoln told NBC-10 that although he was unhappy to have to give away the home run ball, "I'm happy that I got to get something else."
And, he added, "it was very, very fun getting to meet Bader."
Feltwell said he holds no ill will toward the so-called Phillies Karen who ended up with the home run ball.
"I don't wish any harm to her. I would love to have that particular ball to put on the wall next to his bat, and got about 500 promises that they're going to get the ball."
Even so, he said, "I hope nobody does anything stupid to get it."
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow celebrates after closing out the top of the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies on Monday. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
In almost any other season, Dave Roberts might have made a different choice.
Even though Tyler Glasnow was pitching a no-hitter, Roberts would have at least considered removing the right-hander after six innings on Monday night.
Glasnow’s pitch count was already at 91.
This season is unlike any other, however. Up is down, down is up, and the Dodgers can’t rely on their bullpen.
The uncharacteristic problem required an uncharacteristic solution from Roberts, who kept Glasnow in the game.
What was most important about the series-opening 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies wasn’t that Glasnow kept a no-hitter intact for another inning or that human propane tank Tanner Scott blew it by giving up a double to Ryan Ritter in the ninth.
Rather, the most promising development of the night was that Glasnow completed seven innings and threw 105 pitches.
Starts like this will be necessary for the Dodgers to overcome their most obvious weakness. Starts like this will be indispensable in their quest to repeat as champions.
For the Dodgers to have a chance to win another World Series, they will have to lean more than usual on their starting pitching.
“I do think that there’s certain times, if [the starters] give me the opportunity as far as efficiency and how their stuff is playing, to push them a little more,” Roberts said.
Roberts is already pushing them.
Two days earlier in Baltimore, Roberts granted Yoshinobu Yamamoto a chance to complete a no-hitter. Yamamoto came up short by an out.
Glasnow has completed seven innings in each of his last two starts.
“Those things are going to be good going forward,” Roberts said.
As much as Roberts continues to champion his relievers — “I believe in them,” he insisted — the reality is that the Dodgers’ bullpen ranks 19th in the majors in earned-run average entering play Tuesday. The less Roberts has to call on that group, the better.
Scott, the team’s $72-million closer, has a 4.47 ERA. Kirby Yates, another questionable offseason acquisition, is even worse at 4.71.
Blake Treinen was a postseason hero last year but he was sidelined for more than three months with a forearm sprain and has struggled with consistency since his return.
The only addition made to the bullpen at the trade deadline was Brock Stewart, who is on the injured list.
The situation could force the Dodgers to move away from the kind of bullpen-heavy game plans they have used in recent years and turn back the clock to the days when their starters accounted for an overwhelming majority of their innings.
Since the start of August, the Dodgers are second in the majors in innings pitched by their starters. Their starters have a combined ERA of 3.31 in that period, also second-best in the majors.
The Dodgers are expected to have four pitchers in their playoff rotation, and they have five legitimate candidates for those positions in Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw.
But pitching deep into a postseason game isn’t the same as pitching deep into a regular-season game. Snell and Glasnow have each started 10 playoff games. Snell didn’t complete six innings in any of them. Glasnow did it only twice.
Yamamoto crossed the sixth-inning threshold once in four postseason starts last year, as he pitched into the seventh inning against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the World Series.
Kershaw’s last six-inning start in the playoffs was in 2020. Ohtani has never pitched in the playoffs, and the most he has pitched this season is five innings.
The pitching staff’s composition could lead to hard decisions for Roberts in October.
Yamamoto, Snell and Glasnow have each averaged 4 ⅔ innings in their postseason starts. If, say, Snell runs into trouble in the fifth inning of a playoff game, what should Roberts do? Could he trust this particular group of relievers to cover the last four-plus innings of a game? Would Snell be the more reliable option to record the final outs of the inning? Or would either choice lead to disaster?
There’s potential for irony. The manager previously second-guessed for removing starting pitchers too early could now come under scrutiny for leaving them in too long.
With 18 games remaining in the regular season, the Mets are looking to hold off a handful of teams for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of play on Sept. 9...
Mets: 76-68, 3.0 games up on Giants for third Wild Card
Next up: @ Phillies, Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. on SNY (Sean Manaea vs. Ranger Suarez) Latest result: 1-0 loss to Phillies on Monday Remaining schedule: 3 @ PHI, 3 vs. TEX, 3 vs. SD, 3 vs. WSH, 3 @ CHC, 3 @ MIA Odds to make playoffs: 92.3 percent *Mets hold tiebreaker over Giants by virtue of winning the season series
Giants: 73-71, 3.0 games back of Mets
Next up: vs. Diamondbacks, Tuesday at 9:45 p.m. Robbie Ray vs. Zac Gallen) Latest result: 11-5 win over D-backs on Monday Remaining schedule: 2 vs. ARI, 3 vs. LAD, 3 @ ARI, 4 @ LAD, 3 vs. STL, 3 vs. COL Odds to make playoffs: 4.6 percent
Reds: 72-72, 4.0 games back of Mets
Next up: @ Padres, Tuesday at 9:40 p.m. (Zack Littell vs. Michael King) Latest result: 4-3 loss to Padres on Monday Remaining schedule: 2 @ SD, 3 @ ATH, 3 @ STL, 4 vs. CHC, 3 vs. PIT, 3 @ MIL Odds to make playoffs: 2.8 percent
Diamondbacks: 72-73, 4.5 games back of Mets
Next up: @ Giants, Tuesday at 9:45 p.m. (Zac Gallen vs. Robbie Ray) Latest result: 11-5 loss to Giants on Monday Remaining schedule: 2 @ SF, 3 @ MIN, 3 vs. SF, 3 vs. PHI, 3 vs. LAD, 3 @ SD Odds to make playoffs: 1.2 percent
Cardinals: 72-73, 4.5 games back of Mets
Next up: @ SEA, Tuesday at 9:40 p.m. (Matthew Liberatore vs. George Kirby) Latest result: 4-2 loss to Mariners on Monday Remaining schedule: 2 @ SEA, 3 @ MIL, 3 vs. CIN, 3 vs. MIL, 3 @ SF, 3 @ CHC Odds to make playoffs: 0.8 percent
Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...
Mets Notes
Juan Soto is hitting .306/.461/.694 with 13 home runs, 30 RBI, 32 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases in 141 plate appearances over his last 30 games dating back to Aug. 6
Francisco Lindor has been on fire for about a month, hitting .375/.468/.615 with five homers, 10 doubles, and 10 stolen bases in 124 plate appearances over 26 games going back to Aug. 12
Sean Manaea struggled badly in his last start, allowing five runs on eight hits (including two home runs) in 3.2 innings against the Tigers in Detroit on Sept. 1
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What channel is SNY?
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The youth movement in Boston has another early addition.
The Boston Red Sox are expected to promote left-handed pitching prospect Connelly Early from Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. Early will start in Tuesday’s game against the Athletics in Sacramento, while right-hander Dustin May will go on the injured list in a corresponding move, per Rosenthal.
2025 stats at Triple-A Worcester (six games, six starts): 3-1 record, 28.2 IP, 2.83 ERA, 1.047 WHIP, 29 BB, 52 SO
Early began the 2025 season at Double-A Portland and pitched very well for the Sea Dogs with a 2.51 ERA through 15 appearances. He earned the call-up to Triple-A Worcester at the beginning of August and continued his success with the WooSox, allowing two runs or fewer in five of his six starts.
The Virginia product is the No. 6 prospect in Boston’s system, per MLB Pipeline, and the Red Sox’ fourth-ranked pitching prospect behind Tolle, 2025 draft pick Kyson Witherspoon and 22-year-old left-hander Brandon Clarke.
Connelly Early’s scouting report
Early has a fastball that tops out at 96 mph, but his best pitch is his changeup, which MLB Pipeline describes as “lively.”
“Early can’t overpower hitters but has the feel to provide consistent strikes without catching too much of the plate,” MLB Pipeline wrote in its scouting report of Early. “He throws his fastball just one third of the time, just enough to keep hitters honest and set up his secondary pitches, and his heater may need more velocity or life at higher levels.”
Early doesn't have Tolle's fastball – who does – but he has a better current array of secondary pitches that he can control and get whiffs with (31% whiff vs RHH on his CH, SL, CU). He's been working with 6 pitches. Holding velocity has been a question. pic.twitter.com/1Hs8snLoks
Early has excelled at every level of the minors so far and has managed to keep the ball in the park, with just five home runs allowed over 100.1 innings of work this season.
Good look at Connelly Early’s last start.
He’s made 6 starts since reaching AAA with a 2.83 ERA/3.06 FIP in 28.2 IP. 11.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. Has limited homers with a 0.6 HR/9.
Early had a projected big-league ETA of 2026, but the Red Sox are hurting for arms at the moment. Kutter Crawford, Hunter Dobbins, Tanner Houck and Patrick Sandoval are all out for the year, while May will join Richard Fitts and Cooper Criswell on the injured list as well.
So, outside of Boston’s “big three” of Garrett Crochet, Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello, manager Alex Cora doesn’t have much pitching depth to work with, to the point where he resorted to a “bullpen game” last Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians.
It is a bit curious that the Red Sox have yet to promote Kyle Harrison, the 24-year-old lefty acquired in the Rafael Devers trade who has actual MLB experience. But considering Tolle and now Early have been called up ahead of him, it appears the team believes Harrison has more room for improvement before making his Red Sox big-league debut.
Early will take the mound against A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs in Sacramento on Tuesday, with first pitch set for 10:10 p.m. ET.
With the loss, the Mets are now just 3.0 games up on the Giants for the third Wild Card spot in the NL. New York holds the tiebreaker over San Francisco
The start of Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson’s MLB career may be the best that baseball has seen in over 40 years.
Through 137 career games played, the 23-year-old rookie has recorded similar numbers to Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who is considered one of the best hitters in baseball history.
Through 137 career games played:#Athletics Jacob Wilson: 23 years and 162 days old – .304/.349/.423 562 plate appearances | 158 hits | 44 strikeouts#Padres Tony Gwynn: 23 years and 143 days old – .301/.348/.379 535 plate appearances | 147 hits | 37 strikeouts
Wilson has posted a .304 batting average, .349 on-base percentage and a .423 slugging percentage in 562 plate appearances through his first 137 career games, all marks greater than the late San Diego Padres legend.
The rookie shortstop’s low strikeout total is also comparable to the numbers Gwynn posted at the start of his career. Wilson has just 44 strikeouts compared to Gwynn’s 37 in the same number of games played to start their careers (7.8 percent and 6.9 percent of plate appearances, respectively).
This season, Wilson has posted a 7.4 percent strikeout rate, the third best in Major League Baseball among qualified batters behind Luis Arraez (2.8 percent) and Nico Hoerner (7.0 percent).
Wilson is also in the hunt for the 2025 batting title. Entering Tuesday, he has the second-best batting average (.315) behind Aaron Judge (.321).
He has led all rookies in batting average since April. The next-closest rookie is his teammate Nick Kurtz, who enters Tuesday with a .301 batting average.
While Wilson battles for the batting title with Judge, he is also in a battle with Kurtz for the AL Rookie of the Year award, which Kurtz is heavily favored for after the first baseman’s emergence in the first half of the season.
Only eight pairs of teammates have finished first and second in Rookie of the Year voting. In 2022, Michael Harris II and Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves finished first and second, respectively, for NL Rookie of the Year. The 1984 Seattle Mariners duo of Alvin Davis and Mark Langston was the last pair to achieve the feat in the American League.
The A’s have not had a Rookie of the Year award winner since Andrew Bailey in 2009. The last position player to win it for the franchise was Bobby Crosby in 2004, who now serves as the team’s first base coach.
SAN FRANCISCO — As a graphic appeared on the scoreboard and the crowd started to rise and cheer, Logan Webb walked slowly back to the dugout at Oracle Park. He stayed focused, because the Giants still were in a close game at the time, but he did sneak one look back at the scoreboard.
Webb didn’t need anyone to tell him that he had just reached 200 strikeouts, the reason for the celebration. It has been a goal all season long, and before the game, he joked about it with catcher Patrick Bailey.
“I’m only six away,” he told Bailey. “But I’m not counting.”
The staff ace ended up getting seven of them, becoming the first Giant to reach 200 strikeouts since Carlos Rodón in 2022 and the first pitcher in the National League to do it this year. His previous career-high was 194, and he’ll end up demolishing that.
On a night when the Giants did their best to calm the talk about a playoff push, Webb didn’t shy away from what 200 strikeouts meant to him. He credited Bailey and pitching coach JP Martinez, along with Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray, two veteran mentors who have done it a combined 14 times in the big leagues.
“It’s really cool,” Webb said.
It was also a long time coming for one of the game’s best.
Webb broke through in 2021 and finished second in Cy Young Award voting two seasons later, but he has never rested on his success. He has worked hard over the years to become better at holding runners, and has made remarkable strides in that department this season. By one metric — Net Bases Prevented — he now ranks among the top 10 in baseball.
Webb constantly is tinkering with his times and looks, and where he stands on the rubber. The biggest change, though, has been to his pitch mix.
When he nearly won a Cy Young in 2023, Webb threw his changeup 41 percent of the time. By Run Value, it was the most effective pitch in the big leagues, but last season, Webb noticed that opposing hitters were a bit too comfortable leaning out over the plate to try and hit his changeup and sinker. He added a cutter, and this year he has thrown the pitch more than 200 times.
His changeup usage is down to 23 percent and he mixes in a few more four-seamers, giving hitters another wrinkle to think about.
Webb adores his four-seamer, although multiple pitching coaches have groaned about it sometimes, given how dominant his sinker is. He has ended 34 strikeouts with his four-seamer after totaling 36 the previous two seasons combined, which has helped this push for 200 strikeouts.
“I think it’s just execution,” Bailey said. “I feel like this year he’s been really dialed in about locating pitches, and I feel like the four-seam has been really big this year. It takes some pressure off the changeup, the (slider) has been really good, too, to both sides. And one of the biggest things is just count leverage. You strike more guys out when you get to two strikes and he does a really good job of that.”
For years, Webb has been one of the game’s top groundball pitchers. He’s still tied for the league lead in double plays, but there are new tools to use this year, and that showed Monday. He dug deep with the potential go-ahead run on third, striking out Adrian Del Castillo with a changeup to reach 200. He would add one more in the sixth inning.
“That really wasn’t him before. It was more (pitch to) contact and try to get deep into games that way,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Now he can get strikeouts when he needs to and groundballs when he needs to. He’s just a better pitcher now. He continues to get better. He reads swings well, he sees how guys are swinging, and also the teams that he has come up against a lot — the Padres and Dodgers, teams that have a lot of at-bats against him — he’s getting different swings out of them now.”
Melvin noted that Webb does plenty of homework between starts, always looking for a different way to approach his next game. Earlier this season, he built off that and threw 41 sliders in a game against the Padres. A few weeks later, he threw 29 cutters at the Dodgers.
Webb’s next start will be against Los Angeles, and it will be a huge one for a team that all of a sudden is just three games out in the Wild Card race. It also will give Webb a chance to reach 200 in a different way. He should have at least three more starts this season, and he needs 15 1/3 innings to get to 200 for a third straight year. Regardless of where that number ends up, Webb should lead the NL for a third straight season.
It’s a combination that is hard to beat. The Giants have the game’s most durable starter, and in his seventh big league season, he also has become one of the league’s best strikeout pitchers.
“He’s a unicorn as far as that goes,” Melvin said.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers during the first inning of a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. Glasnow threw seven no-hit innings. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Years ago, when Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax were at the top of the Dodgers' pitching rotation, Drysdale missed a game to attend to some personal business. Koufax pitched a no-hitter that day.
When told about the achievement, Drysdale had one question: “Did he win?”
That’s a fair question for the current Dodgers pitching staff as well. Because Monday, for the second time in three days, the Dodgers took a no-hitter into the ninth inning.
They lost the first one. And while they won the second, it wasn’t easy with the Colorado Rockies bringing the tying run to the plate three times before Tanner Scott got the last out to preserve a 3-1 win at Dodger Stadium.
The victory kept the Dodgers a game ahead of the San Diego Padres in the National League West with 18 games left in the regular season.
It was Tyler Glasnow who flirted with history Monday, pitching seven hitless innings before turning the game over to relievers Blake Treinen and Scott. On Saturday, a similar scenario unfolded when Yoshinobu Yamamoto came within an out of a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles before giving up a home run to Jackson Holliday.
He left at that point, only to see Treinen and Scott give up three more runs in a 4-3 Dodger loss.
So when Scott gave up a double to Ryan Ritter to start the ninth — ending the no-hitter and drawing boos from those who remained from the crowd of 48,433 — manager Dave Roberts said he hoped he wasn’t witnessing déjà vu all over again.
“I try to not think like that,” he said.
Given how the Dodgers bullpen has struggled recently, it was hard not to.
Scott, however, quickly settled down, retiring the next two batters on soft grounders before Hunter Goodman lined out to Max Muncy at third to end the game and give Glasnow (2-3) his first win since March.
It was a victory that was long overdue.
Glasnow pitched six no-hit innings his last time out only to wind up with the loss when the Dodgers (80-64) failed to score behind him. That’s become an all-too-common problem for Glasnow, who has the second-lowest ERA in the Dodgers rotation but has received the weakest support with an average of 3½ runs per start.
Mookie Betts hits a two-run single in the seventh inning during the Dodgers' 3-1 win over the Rockies on Monday. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers' hitters didn’t even match that modest number Monday. But when Mookie Betts delivered a two-run single in the seventh, breaking a 1-1 tie, it left Glasnow in position for the win.
“It's always good to score runs,” he said with a smile.
Smiles have been hard to come by for Glasnow. In his 15 starts, he left the game with the Dodgers trailing by multiple runs in just three of them. The Dodgers didn't even score behind him in five of those starts, which explains why he went more than 160 days between wins.
“It is what it is,” he shrugged. “But yeah, they put some at bats together, and we ended up winning.”
Glasnow, who was held out of his last scheduled start with a sore back, was pitching for the first time in 10 days and was strong from the start, striking out the side in the first — although he needed 18 pitches to do it. He fanned the side again in the sixth, but in between he gave up a second-inning run on Jordan Beck’s leadoff walk, a stolen base and two long outs, the second Kyle Farmer’s sacrifice fly to the left-field wall.
What he didn’t give up was a hit. Glasnow said he was aware he had a no-hitter as the game progressed, but he also knew he probably wouldn’t be allowed to finish it.
“My pitch count was pretty high,” said the right-hander, who finished with a season-high 105, striking out 11 and walking two. “I don't know how many pitches I was going to be allowed to throw.”
Also working against him were his two stints on the injured list this season and his recent back issues.
“Obviously I want to stay in, no matter what my pitch count is,” he said. “[But] given my, like, track record, I kind of understand why. I respect the decision.”
For five innings, Colorado starter Chase Dollander, who came in 2-12 with a 6.77 ERA, nearly matched Glasnow. The Dodgers didn’t get their first baserunner until the third inning and didn’t have a hit until the fifth, when Michael Conforto led off with a single to left.
Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow delivers in the fifth inning Monday against the Rockies. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Dollander faced just three batters over the minimum before leaving with an apparent injury after walking Ben Rortvedt to start the sixth. Reliever Juan Mejia walked the first batter he faced and an out later Freddie Freeman bounced a high-hopper over Farmer and down the right-field line for a tying double.
An inning later the Dodgers scored two more off Angel Chivilli (1-5) to go in front. With two out and a runner on first, Shohei Ohtani doubled to right to bring Betts to the plate. After falling behind 0-2, he picked out a belt-high slider and drove it into the center to break the tie.
With the Dodgers safely in front and Glasnow out of the game, the drama turned to the no-hitter. There have been 22 combined no-hitters in major league history, with the last one by the Dodgers coming against the Padres in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2018.
That appeared in reach when Treinen breezed through the eighth. But Ritter, the Rockies' No. 9 hitter, one-hopped the wall in left on Scott’s second pitch of the ninth. The ball appeared catchable off the bat, but Alex Call, inserted for defensive purposes, turned the wrong way, costing him any chance to make a play.
Scott retired the side on two ground outs and a liner to Muncy before celebrating with Rortvedt, who was called up from the minors Thursday and has come within four outs of catching two no-hitters in his first three starts.
“It's not me, it's these guys,” he said. “I'm doing my homework as much as I can, trying to be prepared. The pitchers are prepared. It’s just the fruit of that labor at that point.
Some fans arriving at Dodger Stadium to watch Monday's game between the Dodgers and Rockies ran into problems trying to access their tickets from their phones. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Issues accessing tickets from the MLB app caused problems at the entry gates for some fans trying to enter Dodger Stadium before Monday's game between the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies.
It's unclear how many fans were affected, but the problem wasn't confined to Dodger Stadium — the issue has been ongoing since at least last weekend at MLB ballparks across the country.
"MLB’s ticketing system TDC is experiencing difficulties across multiple venues for retrieving tickets and fan entry," the Dodgers said in a statement. "The league is working with the Dodgers and other franchises to address the issues."
The Dodgers notified season ticket holders Monday about the situation, urging them to reset their passwords on the MLB website. They instructed them to contact the team's member services department if they were unable to access their tickets or couldn't reset their passwords.
An MLB representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Staff writer Kevin Baxter contributed to this report.
When the Mets traded for Cedric Mullins at this year's trade deadline, he was supposed to serve as an upgrade offensively compared to the options they had on the roster. However, the outfielder has been stuck in a slump since joining New York and has shown little signs of busting out anytime soon.
Now hitless in his last 25 at-bats after his 0-for-2 night on Monday, Mullins is doing everything he can to get back on track and help the Mets but nothing seems to be working.
"Rough start," he said after the team's 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. "Trying to find that adjustment that kinda gets me going. Felt like I had it at one point, just lost (it) somewhere along the way, but gonna keep working."
In 30 games as a Met, Mullins is slashing .174/.284/.272 with one home run and a .556 OPS. And while he's not necessarily known as the biggest threat at the plate, the 30-year-old did have 15 home runs and a .738 OPS with the Baltimore Orioles before getting traded and has held his own offensively during his career.
Still, all New York was hoping for out of Mullins following the trade was for him to be a step up from what Tyrone Taylor was contributing offensively. Instead, Mullins has struggled just as badly as Taylor has this season.
"I think I’m just trying to focus on contributing to a win," Mullins said. "I think that could be adding a little pressure, but it comes with the territory so (I'm) working diligently each day to get better."
But with time running out and the Mets, losers of three straight and four out of their last five, scuffling to the finish line, they need Mullins to pick it up sooner rather than later, especially with Taylor, the better defender, currently on the IL.
If not, it could potentially force New York to play Jeff McNeil in center field with another option at second base, moving Mullins to the bench.
"We haven’t seen the results," said manager Carlos Mendoza. "He’s a really good player and I know he wants to contribute, but we got to help him because I feel like he’s missing good pitches to hit."
For what it's worth, Mullins believes he can turn things around.
"Eighteen games left, that can be shifted in a positive direction between now and then," he said.
"Look, we've been pretty inconsistent," said manager Carlos Mendoza, whose team has lost four of its past five games as it clings to the third wild card. "We put ourselves in this position, which we're still right there.
"Obviously, the goal is to win the division... But we've got to keep going. We've got to turn the page here. We've got to be ready for another game tomorrow and continue to get the job done. But overall, the inconsistency and here we are in this position."
New York (76-68) totaled five hits against the Phillies (84-60), who scored one run -- Nick Castellanos' second-inning RBI single -- in a tough-luck loss for rookie RHP Nolan McLean.
"I think it's just having a hard time putting everything together for quite a bit," Mendoza said of the Mets' inconsistent 2025 season. "We got out of the gate and everything was working. And then, at times -- whether it was the starting pitching or runners in scoring position offensively, we haven't been able to play good defense at times.
"So, I feel like we haven't done that consistently and here we are. But continue to trust the guys, I know we have a lot of talent and we're going to turn the page."
18 games remain for New York, continuing with Tuesday's 6:45 p.m. start on SNY, and Mendoza maintains his confidence in the Mets' ability to make a turnaround.
"Very confident," he said. "This is a team that's been through a lot, and we'll find a way -- we'll find a way to get the job done.
"We've got to keep fighting. We've got to continue to work. But I trust those guys. There's a lot of experience there, there's a lot of talent and I'm pretty confident that we'll get to where we want to get."
The Mets were shut out on Monday night against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1-0 loss. New York has now lost 11 of its past 13 one-run games and has fallen to 8.0 GB of the first-place Phillies for the NL East title.
Here are the takeaways...
-After more than a month of red-hot offense, New York has been stymied as of late and that continued on Monday against a struggling Aaron Nola. The right-hander limited the Mets to just three hits and two walks over six scoreless innings while striking out seven.
The scoring drought went into the ninth inning where Phillies closer Jhoan Duran entered the game to try and save a 1-0 score. New York's offense finally perked up with Pete Alonso leading off the inning with a single up the middle. With one out, Mark Vientos hit an opposite-field double to put the Mets in business with the tying and go-ahead runs on second and third.
With a golden opportunity to tie or even take the lead, Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez struck out swinging to end the game in disappointment for New York. Alvarez's strikeout was even more disappointing as he looked like the Alvarez of old, swinging at three pitches way outside and looking way too overzealous.
-The Mets didn't do Nolan McLean any favors as the rookie pitched well for a fifth straight start to begin his career and managed to keep the Phillies off the board for most of the night. The only run given up by the right-hander came in the second inning after he allowed three straight hits to start the inning.
Aside from that, McLean looked good once again and although he wasn't as sharp as he has been in other outings, he was able to maneuver out of trouble. The 24-year-old surrendered seven hits and walked three but allowed just the one run over 5.1 innings. He struck out five and threw 91 pitches (56 strikes), but recorded his first loss of his career to go to 4-1. His ERA remains a superb 1.42.
-On the bright side for New York, its bullpen pitched well with Gregory Soto, Brooks Raley and Ryan Helsley combining for 2.2 scoreless innings. Helsley's outing was the most encouraging as the struggling reliever struck out two in the bottom of the eighth inning to keep the Mets within a run.
-Brett Baty had a good day at the plate and went 1-for-1 with a walk, but he was picked off first base with two outs in the fifth inning and Juan Soto at the plate. Baty was replaced for a pinch-hitter in the eighth.
-Of New York's five hits, two came off the bat of Alonso who went 2-for-4, including a double. The rest of the Mets' fab four went 0-for-10 with two walks.
-In the ninth, pinch-runner Ronny Mauricio perhaps could've scored on Vientos' double, but he held up between first and second base on a ball that was clearly going over right fielder Nick Castellanos' head. It's not certain that Mauricio would've scored, or even been sent home with New York having two chances to drive him in, but it was a baserunning mistake nonetheless.
Game MVP: Aaron Nola
Despite his season-long struggles this year, Nola shut out the Mets over six innings and outdueled McLean to get the 1-0 victory.
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy gets showered in sunflower seeds after hitting a home run against the Kansas City Royals on June 27. (Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
Max Muncy was activated Monday following his second stint on the injured list, and the struggling Dodgers wasted no time getting him back in the lineup against the Colorado Rockies, with Muncy starting at third base and batting cleanup.
“I wanted to be back sooner, but obviously that's just not a realistic option sometimes,” said Muncy, who was hitting .258 with an .880 OPS, 17 homers and 64 RBIs before he sustained an oblique injury that caused him to miss 23 games.
“It's a big boost. We've been waiting for this one for a long time,” said manager Dave Roberts, whose team had a losing record in Muncy’s absence. “Just kind of having his presence in the lineup, that obviously adds length to our lineup.”
Muncy missed 25 games with a bone bruise in his left knee earlier in the summer and returns with the Dodgers stumbling through an offensive slump that saw them lose five of six games to the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles.
Muncy said he’ll need to fight the urge to do too much too soon.
“What they need is for me to be myself and not try to do anything outside of what I usually do in a baseball game. And so it's trying to understand that and just letting everyone else get back to being themselves,” said Muncy, who went two for seven with two walks in three games with triple-A Oklahoma City.
“Obviously, it was a rough road trip for the guys," Muncy said. "We have to keep our focus just one day at a time. Prepare for today. How are we going to beat the pitcher today? And you know, if we get an entire group of guys buying into that, then I'm going to feel pretty good about.”
Muncy is just the first member of a big cavalry riding to the Dodgers’ rescue in time for their playoff stretch drive. Left-hander Alex Vesia could return from an oblique strain on Tuesday, Roberts said, while utility player Tommy Edman, out since Aug. 4 with a sprained ankle, is expected to be activated for the final game of the brief three-game homestand Wednesday.
Right-hander Brock Stewart, who has missed 25 games with shoulder inflammation, threw a bullpen session last Saturday in Arizona and is expected to throw another Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. If that goes well, Stewart said, he's expected to throw to live hitters Friday before making a brief rehab assignment with Oklahoma City.
“I’m just trying to take it one day at a time. The odds are good,” he said. “I want to help the team, but I have to focus on myself because I’m not out of the woods yet.”
SAN FRANCISCO — The out-of-town scoreboard at Oracle Park is directly in front of the home dugout. If you’re leaning on the rail, as just about all of the Giants do at some point during a game, you literally cannot miss it. When they looked out at Logan Webb on Monday night, the New York Mets-Philadelphia Phillies score was directly behind him.
The Giants are well aware of what’s going on around the rest of Major League Baseball every night, but if they have started to think big, they’re doing a pretty good job of hiding it.
On the first night back home, they hit a season-high five homers and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-5. Across the country, the Mets got shut out in Philadelphia. With 18 to go, the Giants are just three games back, although the deficit in the wild-card race essentially is four since the Mets hold the tiebreaker.
But they’re not talking about any of that.
“I think you guys talk about it more than we do,” catcher Patrick Bailey said, smiling.
Webb gave a version of the same answer. Like Matt Chapman on the last homestand, he insisted that the focus is on winning every day and not thinking about anything other than that. And that actually is pretty believable.
You don’t go on a run like this without having the proper mindset, and right now, there isn’t a group that is having more fun or playing more relaxed than the Giants. It was a party in the dugout for most of Monday’s game, particularly in the sixth, when a five-run rally gave Webb his 14th win and pushed the Giants back to two games above .500. In the middle of it all, rookie outfielder Drew Gilbert started biting left-hander Robbie Ray.
“We’re just enjoying it,” Webb said. “That’s obviously easy to say when we’re scoring a lot of runs, but the whole energy — every game is a blast. We’ve got to keep positive energy.”
That’s easy to do when you’re hitting multiple homers, and the Giants right now are taking advantage of the warmest stretch at Oracle Park this season. Balls are flying, and for the second time in the last two weeks, they hit at least four homers at home. For the fourth time in the last six home games, they scored double-digit runs. What exactly is going on here?
“If we knew,” Bailey said, “we’d do it all year.”
Sometimes it’s better not to ask questions and simply enjoy the ride, and the Giants are playing like a group that might be pushing longer than anyone expected. They didn’t just pick up a game on the Mets on Monday, they also did the same with the Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.
The decks are clearing for them to spend the final two-plus weeks trying to chase down the Mets and guarantee a first-round MLB playoff series either in Los Angeles or San Diego, although that’s not what they’re thinking about right now.
“The main goal every single day is to win the day,” Webb said. “I think that’s the way to do it. I wish we did that two months ago but that’s what we’re doing right now, and it’s fun to be a part of. We’ve got 18 games left, so we’ll just finish out strong. It’s going to be fun.”
Webb reached 200 strikeouts in the middle of the latest win, becoming the first NL pitcher to get there this season. Early on, he received supportive blasts from Jung Hoo Lee and Dominic Smith. Heliot Ramos went deep during the five-run sixth. Matt Chapman and Bailey tacked on solo shots as the Giants hit five homers at Oracle Park for the first time since 2021.
That was a magical season that was filled with winning from start to finish. This year’s group won early, and then had a historic collapse in July and early August. They’re trying to counteract it with this late-season push, and their momentum continues to build.
The Giants were disappointed to drop the final two in St. Louis, and they fell behind early Monday. But it ended up being another blowout win.
As Webb thought about all that has happened lately, he admitted that there wouldn’t have been as much energy in the dugout if he gave up four early runs a month ago. But the vibes have changed, so much so that a rookie can bite a veteran to celebrate a rally and nobody blinks. Webb laughed and said he figures he’ll probably be on the receiving end from Gilbert on Tuesday since it’ll be Ray on the mound.
“I think energy is a huge thing. That goes with just trying to win each day,” he said. “I think Gilbert brings 99 percent of that energy, but it’s great to have.”
