Aug 25, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) steals second base with Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (5) missing the throw during the fifth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
NEW YORK - For three innings, it looked like the Phillies were on their way to exorcising the demon that travels with them every time they go to Citi Field.
They were having good at bats. Cristopher Sanchez was mowing down their hitters. The Mets looked melancholy and beaten early.
But after allowing a two-out hit to Pete Alonso in the fourth, something weird happened.
The Phillies got the Citi Field gremlins wet. And on top of that, they fed them after midnight.
It became a house of horrors all over again.
In the end, it was a 13-3 loss to the Mets. It was the Phillies eighth consecutive loss in Citi Field, including the postseason. Their lead in the NL East is still comfortable at six games, but they let a scuffling Mets team up off the mat and are now giving them a puncher's chance.
And it all went to hell when Sanchez got his cleat caught in the dirt while delivering a pitch.
"I just slipped when I was going towards home and I slipped in a way that I couldn't throw the ball because I could have hurt myself, so I just stopped," Sanchez said. "I think it threw me off my rhythm a little bit."
The slip resulted in a balk. The next pitch, Sanchez threw to the backstop, and Alonso went to third base.
Then he gave up a double to Mark Vientos that Alec Bohm made a flailing attempt at stopping at third base, but mistimed the hop.
Brandon Nimmo singled, to cut the lead to one.
Sanchez then walked usually light-hitting Tyrone Taylor (he entered the game batting .206) before giving up another hit to Jeff McNeil that tied the game.
Three of the five hits the Mets got that inning were on the first pitch. All three were on different pitches - a changeup, a sinker and a slider.
Keep that in your back pocket, for now.
In the top of the fifth. Alec Bohm grounded into a double play. On his way back to the dugout, he told home plate umpire Scott Barry that there was something reflecting into his eyes from centerfield that he couldn't see the pitch coming out of the hand of lefty Jose Castillo. Castillo had just come into the game to replace Kodai Senga, and Bohm was the first batter to face him.
"There was a microphone in centerfield that somebody must have turned and there was a glare coming off of it and the lefthander's arm slot," manager Rob Thomson said. "The ball was coming right out of that disc and we had to wait until they got it out of there."
The Mets-Phillies game was delayed extensively due to the Phillies complaining about the glare from a microphone in the outfield pic.twitter.com/UBfWMGziHn
It took about 10 minutes for the umpires to converse, relay the problem to the grounds crew, and the crew members to get up onto the centerfield batters eye and remove the microphone before the game could continue.
All that time, Sanchez was sitting on the bench.
Thomson said he didn't think of pulling him because the bullpen was short - neither Orion Kerkering, who had pitched on back-to-back days, nor Tanner Banks, who had pitched in three-of-four games, were available.
"I trust Sanchy," Thomson said.
But then in the fifth, after getting the first out, Sanchez walked Juan Soto. He had him picked off, but Bryce Harper held on to the ball too long and rushed a throw to Bryson Stott at the last minute. Stott couldn't corral it and make the tag in time. Stott was credited with the error, but Harper rightfully took the blame.
"I just got to get rid of it earlier," Harper said.
Sanchez, still not right, walked Starling Marte. He was able to strikeout Alonso, but then Vientos got him again with a double to right field, giving the Mets a one-run lead.
"I missed a lot of pitches throughout the start," Sanchez said. "They didn't get me at the beginning, but they made the adjustment and got me."
You don’t ever see Cristopher Sánchez this upset.
(Via @aokstott)
pic.twitter.com/HWf41ftXYz
Thomson went to Sanchez again in the sixth, but things went south quickly.
Tyrone Taylor and Luis Torrens each doubled on change ups early in the count - both were on the second pitch.
"They put some good swings on him tonight and he might have been tipping a little bit, we'll see," Harper said of Sanchez.
Tipping always seems to be a convenient excuse when a pitcher is struggling. But Harper might be on to something.
Jumping pitches early in the count. Clobbering the change-up, arguably the best in the game. Hitting three different first pitch offerings that were three different pitches - as if they knew what was coming.
"The Mets are so good at it," Harper said. "I think they're one of the best teams in the game - really getting guys and getting tips. So, we'll see what we can do about it."
Harper may have some insight.
Mets first base coach Antoan Richardson used to be the first base coach for the San Francisco Giants when Gabe Kapler was their manager. Kapler was known as a manager who was always looking for little advantages wherever possible. He was that way in Philly, too. Harper played for him for a year.
Earlier this year, when the Mets were facing the San Francisco Giants, the Mets were able to run on Giants ace Logan Webb.
Webb thought there was a chance there was something Richardson had picked up in his delivery that allowed him to know when it was a good time to steal.
So, is it possible Richardson had figured out something with Sanchez, too?
Possibly.
But that wasn't the last gremlin to get the Phillies.
With the game still within reach in the seventh, and the bullpen light, Rob Thomson had to turn to Jordan Romano - who hadn't pitched in six days.
Looking different on the mound after a shave and a haircut, which maybe he thought would bring him good luck, the pitching was not all that different at all.
He hit the first batter, walked the second, gave up a single to load the bases, then after a sacrifice fly, Romano gave up a three-run bomb to Mets catcher Luis Torrens.
The Mets have blown this one open on a three-run homer by Luis Torrens. It's 10-3 over the Phillies. pic.twitter.com/7pYwlXzUOX
Looks like the shave and the haircut really were worth two bits - or about the amount of value the Phillies have gotten out of Romano's $8.5 million contract this season since he know has an 8.23 ERA.
Thomson left Romano in to finish the inning after that. He did strike out the next two hitters, but the manager practically had no answers for where to go from here with him.
"The velocity fluctuated again," he said. "His last pitch (of the inning) was 97 (MPH). The slider was just backing up. ... We tried to get him some rest. Now we got to check on him tomorrow and see what's going on."
Jordan Romano now has a 8.23 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. It's the highest mark for a Phillies pitcher with 40+ IP since Reggie Grabowski's 9.23 in 1934.
Keeping Romano on the roster at this point is doing a disservice to the other 25 guys on the team. He probably shouldn't be used again. The Phillies have exhausted every possibility with him.
Joe Ross put the finishing touches on this nightmare of a game, allowing three more runs on three more hits.
It is just one loss. In reality, it's not that big of a deal.
And yet, to many, it feels like it is.
"We got another one tomorrow and we just got to strap it on," Thomson said. "We got to turn the page on this one. This is not what we were looking for coming in here. We got to turn the page and get after it tomorrow."
