Game Chat: Rangers vs Mets, 7:10 PM

Friday, September 12, 2025 • 7:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Jacob deGrom (11-7, 2.78) vs. RHP Jonah Tong (1-1, 4.09)
SNY • MLBN

Without the context of everything happening around the Mets over the last two months, tonight’s game should be incredibly exciting. Jacob deGrom returns to Citi Field to take on the Mets, who are sending out Jonah Tong and are about to follow him up with Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean, who make up the most exciting group of starting pitchers since deGrom, et al. Both teams are in a playoff race, meaning this should be must-watch TV.

The Mets are just playing terribly right now, though. They have lost six games in a row and are one bad weekend away from losing their Wild Card spot. The Mets looked great in the first inning on Thursday night, but then they fell apart again. They desperately need a win.

Mets Lineup

1. Francisco Lindor – SS
2. Juan Soto – RF
3. Pete Alonso – 1B
4. Brandon Nimmo – LF
5. Mark Vientos – DH
6. Jeff McNeil – 2B
7. Brett Baty – 3B
8. Francisco Alvarez – C
9. Cedric Mullins – CF

Tong will make the third start of his career tonight. In his first two outings, he allowed eight runs (five earned) over 11 innings on nine hits while striking out 12 batters. Tong cruised through his debut before running into trouble in the fifth inning from Miami Marlins hitters and the defense behind him. The Reds just played a very Reds game in his last start, as he gave up only three hits and all of them were home runs, which matches almost exactly how Great American Ball Park plays.

Opposing Lineup

1. Josh Smith – SS
2. Wyatt Langford – LF
3. Joc Pederson – DH
4. Jake Burger – 1B
5. Josh Jung – 3B
6. Alejandro Osuna – RF
7. Jonah Heim – C
8. Cody Freeman – 2B
9. Michael Helman – CF

deGrom has thrown over 100 innings this season for the first time since 2019. Over 155 2/3 frames, spread over 27 starts, he has a 2.78 ERA, 3.54 FIP, 0.931 WHIP and a 132 ERA+. He’s coming off of a more human start against the Houston Astros where he allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings, mostly due to two home runs. In the three outings before that, he allowed only two runs across 15 innings while striking out 18 batters.

The Mets have the following career stats against deGrom:

• Starling Marte 2-12, BB, 5 K
• Cedric Mullins 1-7, K
• Juan Soto 5-18, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 5 K

Game Notes

• Joel Díaz’s gem helped High-A Brooklyn clinch a spot in the SAL Championship Series on Thursday night. For more, check out our minor league recap!
• With the Alumni Classic set to take place at 2:40 p.m. EST before tomorrow’s game at 4:10 p.m., the Mets announced that the parking lot will open at 12:10 p.m. and the Early Entry STM Gates will open at 12:40 p.m. while all other gates will open at 1:10 p.m.
• Kodai Senga will make his first start for Triple-A Syracuse tonight after accepting an option to the affiliate last week.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Jacob deGrom. deGrom will make his first start against the Mets since leaving the team in 2022. The long-time ace ranks third in career pitching bWAR among pitchers in the club’s history at 41.2, sitting behind Dwight Gooden at 41.6 and Tom Seaver at 76.1. deGrom also has the best career ERA in Mets history at 2.52, which is just barely ahead of Seaver’s 2.57 mark. I personally thought I would have more feelings about his return, but I don’t. It’s a combination of how poorly the Mets have played recently and how long ago 2022 was. This is deGrom’s first dominant year since signing that massive contract with the Rangers, which is due to him missing a large chunk of the last two years due to Tommy John surgery. If he returned one or two seasons after signing with the Rangers, emotions would be stronger, but the Mets have lived multiple different lives since he left.
2. Repeat last night’s start. The Mets had the perfect start to Thursday’s game: Lindor single, Soto single, double-steal. They went on to have multiple hits with runners in scoring position, leading to four runs. David Peterson shut down the Phillies in the bottom of the first inning, but the Mets’ hitters were silent for the rest of the night. As the game got to the middle innings, where things typically fall apart for the Mets, they allowed six runs and just could not recover. They need another fast start, but then also need to sustain it throughout the game.
3. Wild Card race. The Mets are going to need some help tonight. The two most important games in terms of scoreboard watching will probably begin around the time the Mets game ends. The Reds and Brady Singer will take on the struggling Athletics while Justin Verlander and the Giants will take on Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers. There’s a world where we wake up tomorrow and the Mets have a 2 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card race, but there’s also a world where the Mets have a half-game lead.

Let’s go Mets!

The post Game Chat: Rangers vs Mets, 7:10 PM appeared first on Metsmerized Online.