Mets sweep Phillies, extend winning streak to 7 in game with play at the plate and balk that wasn't

NEW YORK (AP) — Sometimes the short, soft hits make the big difference.

His playing time limited this season, Starling Marte stepped to the plate with the chance to give the New York Mets a 4-3, 10-inning win Wednesday, a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, an unbeaten homestand and a five-game NL East lead over their rival.

His bat shattered against Jordan Romano's curveball.

“Like in 1,000 pieces,” Marte would later say through a translator.

He sprayed the ball 192 feet into center field. Cal Stevenson charged but could only get to it after three bounces.

“It’s the randomness of the game,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

Pete Alonso, who was on second base, slid across home plate headfirst ahead of the throw.

“That's why you run like hell and slide just in case,” Alonso said.

After wasting an early two-run lead, the Mets extended their winning streak to seven and finished the second-longest unbeaten homestand in team history at 7-0. The Mets have the best record in the major leagues at 18-7 and are 12-1 at home for the first time.

“This is a really tight-knit group because there’s so many guys here from the year before where its like we have experience together, we have continuity," Alonso said. "And then the guys that were added, just kind of — not just talent-wise, but personality- wise, they just kind of gelled right in. It’s like we’ve been playing together for years.”

Philadelphia (13-12) has lost four straight. Last October, the Mets beat the Phillies in a four-game NL Division Series.

“We have to be better,” Phillies star Bryce Harper said. “As a team we’ve got to really understand what we want to do, how we want to do it.”

There was a miniseries of drama, with a play at the plate, a balk that wasn't, a 10th-inning, bases-loaded jam escape and an All-Star closer revealing one of his legs inexplicably was longer than the other.

Brett Baty, faced with possible demotion to the minors if Jeff McNeil is activated from the injured list Friday, put the Mets ahead in the second inning with his first home run since last May 25, a two-run drive off Zack Wheeler in the right field second deck.

Johan Rojas and Trea Turner tied the score in the fourth with RBI singles against David Peterson.

Juan Soto prevented the go-ahead run from scoring in the eighth inning. Nick Castellanos tried to score from second on Max Kepler’s two-out single that went off the glove of diving second baseman Luisangel Acuña and into right. Soto's one-hop throw to rookie catcher Hayden Senger was slightly to the first-base side. Senger snagged the ball, lunged across the plate and tagged Castellanos, who slid feet first.

Senger had no idea where the runner was, then looked at his mitt after the tag to make sure the ball was there.

“He could have been halfway down the line, and I’d look like an idiot diving towards the plate,” Senger said.

Thomson called for a video review, but plate umpire Mark Wenger concluded the manager signaled past the 15-second limit.

Castellanos put the Phillies ahead 3-2 with a one-out RBI single in the 10th off All-Star closer Edwin Díaz, who left with a left hip cramp after his first pitch to J.T. Realmuto. Umpires at first signaled a balk for a third disengagement from the pitching rubber, then called off the penalty after deciding Díaz stepped off because he was hurt.

“My hip got locked up. So I started walking, tried to maybe loosen it up,” Díaz said.

Mets athletic training staff had worked on Díaz on Tuesday when the pitcher complained his right leg suddenly was longer than his left.

”That's normal?" Díaz remembered asking the trainer. “He said, `No,' so he fixed my hips right away.”

Thomson came onto the field trying to get the balk restored.

“That’s a play that I’ll have to remember to tell our pitchers: Step off third time," he said. “Call the trainer. He’ll take you out. We’ll put somebody else in.”

Max Kranick (2-0), who had thrown 36 pitches in Monday's series-opening 5-4 win, was summoned to take over with a 1-0 count, walked Realmuto with three straight balls and gave up Alec Bohm's single that loaded the bases. Then he retired Bryson Stott and Kepler on short flyouts.

“Today was definitely a little bit different,” Kranick said.

Alonso retied the game with a one-out RBI double in the bottom half off Jordan Romano (0-1), his NL-best 26th RBI, Brandon Nimmo was intentionally walked, Mark Vientos struck out and Marte singled.

“Obviously with the circumstances that I’m currently in,” the 36-year-old, two-time All-Star said, "it feels really good to see the team smile and to come together in a win like that.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Mets' Starling Marte, center, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off single during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' Starling Marte, right, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off single during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' Pete Alonso reacts after hitting an RBI double during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' Starling Marte reacts after hitting a walk-off single during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' Starling Marte reacts after hitting a walk-off single during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' Starling Marte, center, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off single during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, left, celebrates with Starling Marte after he hit a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Philadelphia Phillies' Trea Turner reacts after striking out looking during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets catcher Hayden Senger, right, tags out Philadelphia Phillies' Nick Castellanos as he tries to score during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' Starling Marte reacts after hitting a walk-off single during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' Tyrone Taylor, second from left, and Brandon Nimmo (9), right, try to douse Starling Marte, left, after he hit a walk off single during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

President Donald Trump made a lot of tariff threats and trade promises this year. Many materialized into a barrage of new import taxes that overturned decades of U.S. economic policy — but others have yet to be fulfilled as 2025 comes to a close.

Some of Trump’s unrealized threats reflect a broader approach from a president with a track record of using sky-high levies to pressure other countries into new trade deals, one-up retaliatory measures or even punish political critics. At the same time, they arrived as growing list of tariffs did go into effect — from Trump's punishing new taxes on imported metals, to tit-for-tat levies with top U.S. trading partners like China — plunging consumers and businesses worldwide into uncertainty.

Here’s what Trump said when announcing some of his biggest (but still unrealized) tariff threats and promises this year, and where things stand today.

In his words:

What happened: The External Revenue Service has yet to be established as of the end of December. While administration officials continued to reiterate plans for launching the External Revenue Service during Trump's first months back in office, the entity does not yet exist.

In his words:

What happened: The EU's planned levy on American whiskey — which it unveiled as part of broader retaliation in response to Trump's new steel and aluminum tariffs — was postponed, with the latest delay reportedly running until at least February.

Trump's 200% tariff threat on European alcohol never materialized. But spirits were not included in the EU-U.S. trade deal struck over the summer, which set a 15% rate on most European imports.

In his words:

What happened: Despite Trump's repeated threats, the U.S. has yet to impose a 100% tariff on foreign films. After his initial May promise to initiate the process, the White House said no final decision had been made. Also still unclear is how the U.S. would tax a movie made overseas.

In his words:

What happened: The president did not sign an executive order imposing a 100% tariff on pharma products on Oct. 1 and, as of today, no levy has been put into place. But Trump previously suggested that steep levies on pharmaceutical drugs could arrive further down the road, telling CNBC in August that he would start by charging a “small tariff” and potentially raise the rate as high as 250%. Meanwhile, trade agreements with specific countries set their own rates or exemptions — with the U.K., for example, securing a 0% tariff on all British medicine exported to the U.S. for three years. The administration also announced deals with specific companies with promises of lower drug prices.

In his words:

What happened: A sweeping 100% on computer chips has yet to go into effect. When announcing his plans to impose the levy back in August, Trump was not specific about the timing. And other details have remained scarce.

In his words:

What happened: Details about how, when and if a tariff dividend will reach Americans are still scarce. Budget experts have said that the math doesn't add up. And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that it might not mean checks from the government. Instead, Bessent told ABC in November, the rebate might take the form of tax cuts. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett also told CBS News that it's up to Congress.

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, on April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)