Brandon Nimmo walks off Mets to 6-5 win over Phillies, move within 5 games of 1st in NL East | amNewYork

Fahad Umar
August 26, 2025
6:26 pm

Aug 26, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) reacts after hitting a two RBI double against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fifth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images

QUEENS, NY — Ryan Helsley made it more difficult than it had to be, but Brandon Nimmo ensured the Mets kept their momentum and went home winners on Tuesday night at Citi Field.

The veteran left fielder’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning walked New York off to a 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies for its second straight win over their division rivals, which moves the Mets (71-61) to within five games of the Phillies and their National League East lead.

Against Phillies reliever Jhoan Duran, Starling Marte and Pete Alonso led off the ninth with singles. Brett Baty, who replaced the red-hot Mark Vientos for defense at third base in the eighth, donked a single to left to load the bases and set the table for Nimmo, who slapped a liner the other way to left field to score the winning run in Marte.

The Mets’ bullpen squandered a 5-2 lead, which was built on the back of a five-run fifth inning. Helsley’s struggles as the new setup man continued, as he allowed a game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to former Met Harrison Bader.

After walking pinch-hitter Bryson Stott, he was pulled with one out in the eighth to put extra strain on closer Edwin Diaz, who cleaned up Helsley’s mess with two strikeouts to get out of the eighth.

The Mets’ closer proceeded to breeze through the heart of the Phillies’ order in the ninth, including strikeouts of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.

Helsley has now allowed 14 runs (10 earned) in 10 appearances since the Mets picked him up from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline, which comes out to an abysmal 10.38 ERA.

Falling behind 2-0 in the top of the fifth, the Mets punched right back in the bottom of the frame to put up yet another crooked number on Philadelphia following a 13-run outburst on Monday night.

Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo faced four Mets to lead off the frame, but did not retire any, hitting Luis Torrens and allowing a single to Francisco Lindor. Juan Soto followed up with an RBI single to halve the host’s deficit.

After walking Marte to load the bases, in which he was squeezed a few times by home-plate umpire Willie Traynor, his night was done. The Philadelphia southpaw barked at Traynor while walking to the dugout, warranting an immediate ejection.

Against reliever Orion Kerkering, Alonso drove in a pair to give the Mets the lead with a double in the left-center-field gap. Mark Vientos singled, and Nimmo hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in two more and cap off the five-run inning. Four of those runs were charged to Luzardo, who allowed five hits with three walks and five strikeouts in his four-plus innings.

Mets starter Sean Manaea fared better than his previous four starts, in which he allowed 17 earned runs in 19.1 innings pitched (7.91 ERA), but he still could not complete five innings and exited on the short end of the result.

A Trea Turner single with two outs in the fifth put two men on for Philadelphia, prompting manager Carlos Mendoza to give the veteran southpaw the hook at 90 pitches. Reliever Gregory Soto then walked Schwarber and gave up a two-run single to Harper to put the Mets down a pair. Both runs were charged to Manaea, who finished his day allowing six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks. He has not completed five innings in three of his last four starts.

The Phillies pulled one back in the sixth to cut their deficit to two on Edmundo Sosa’s RBI infield single off Huascar Brazoban. Tyler Rogers needed just seven pitches to get through the seventh inning, but Mendoza opted to turn to the struggling Helsley, who worked through a scoreless eighth inning the night prior.

After getting Alec Bohm swinging, he walked Nick Castellanos before serving a meatball to Bader, which he pulled 381 feet into the left-field seats to tie the game.