As the Mets count on three young arms in their playoff hunt, they learned that could be a tough Friday as Jonah Tong was ripped for six earned runs.

Manager Carlos Mendoza did not commit to Jonah Tong receiving another start after Friday’s disastrous effort, which coincided with an encouraging outing from Kodai Senga with Triple-A Syracuse.

The Mets entered the series trailing the Phillies by seven games in the NL East. A Mets sweep would have pulled them within three games of the division. They held a four-game lead for the third NL Wild Card spot and had a 93.4% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs.

The Rangers scored six runs in the top of the first off Jonah Tong, cruising to an 8-3 win over the Mets in Jacob deGrom’s return to Citi Field. By night’s end, New York’s lead in the National League wild-card race could be down to a half-game over Cincinnati (playing in West Sacramento) and/or San Francisco (in Chavez Ravine).

The New York Mets began the 2025 regular season with a 45-24 record, which was the best in all of baseball. After getting swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in

The Mets arrive home in the throes of a six-game losing streak that included a four-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies, who outscored their rivals 27-10 and trailed for just five innings — all Thursday night, when the Mets scored four runs in the first inning before Jesus Luzardo and Jhoan Duran retired the final 25 batters in order.

The Mets' latest loss showcased everything that has gone wrong: bad hitting, bad starting pitching, bad relief pitching, bad defense.

The Mets dropped their seventh straight game, losing to Jacob deGrom and the Rangers 8-3 in deGrom’s first game against his former team. With the stakes increasing with each consecutive loss, the pressure was on for Jonah Tong, but this game was more or less over before Jacob deGrom even took the mound.