New York Mets’ Jose Siri reacts after striking out during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto swings a bat after striking out during the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Mets’ Francisco Alvarez is hit by a ball thrown by Texas Rangers pitcher Cole Winn during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Mets’ Jose Siri reacts after striking out during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Texas Rangers’ pinch runner Dustin Harris scores during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Mets drop 8th straight game and lose grip on NL playoff berth
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Juan Soto joined some rarefied air Saturday by becoming the third player in major league history with 40 homers, 30 steals and 100 walks in a season.
New York Mets’ Jose Siri reacts after striking out during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Juan Soto joined some rarefied air Saturday by becoming the third player in major league history with 40 homers, 30 steals and 100 walks in a season.
Then the New York Mets moved closer to a far more dubious feat.
Wyatt Langford hit a tiebreaking single off All-Star closer Edwin D铆az with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Texas Rangers rallied past the reeling Mets for
The loss was the eighth straight for the Mets 鈥 their longest skid since 2018. It continued a precipitous fall for New York (76-73), which was a big league-best 45-24 through June 12 but entered Saturday only a half-game ahead of San Francisco in the race for the final National League playoff berth.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e here to achieve our ultimate goal,鈥 manager Carlos Mendoza said. 鈥淚f the season鈥檚 over right now, I don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e there. So we鈥檝e got to get going here fast. That鈥檚 the bottom line. We鈥檝e got to get the job done, period. It鈥檚 been too long.鈥
In the wild-card era (since 1994), only two teams have been 45-24 or better through 69 games and failed to qualify for the postseason. The 2002 Boston Red Sox and 2003 Seattle Mariners both won 93 games, yet missed out when only one wild card per league advanced to the playoffs.
鈥淲e have everything we need to go all the way,鈥 said Soto, who signed a $765 million contract with the Mets less than two months after they made the NL Championship Series last year. 鈥淭he only thing is we just keep losing games. I don鈥檛 know what else to do right now.鈥
Soto has been one of the few bright spots over the last eight games, a span in which he鈥檚 hitting .313 with three homers, five RBIs and four stolen bases. He is the fourth player in team history to post a 30/30 season and the fifth to hit 40 homers.
Soto, Barry Bonds (1996, 1997) and Jeff Bagwell (1997, 1999) are the only major leaguers with 40 homers, 30 steals and 100 walks in a season.
鈥淩eally impressive, but we have bigger things in front of us that we鈥檝e got to go out and get,鈥 Soto said.
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The Mets have spoken often over the last several weeks about their experience climbing out of holes. New York got off to a 24-35 start last year but had the best record in baseball the rest of the way before making the playoffs on the final day of the season.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of baseball left. Two more weeks 鈥 things can happen in two more weeks,鈥 D铆az said. 鈥淲e can turn it around. We鈥檝e done that in the past.鈥
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