NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Mets head into 10 straight games against NL East rival Atlanta and Philadelphia after getting swept in a series for the first time this season.
New York was held to one hit in 20 plate appearances with runners on base Sunday, when the Tampa Bay Rays closed a three-game sweep with a 9-0 victory.
“You hate to get swept here at home, but you’ve got to move on,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s 162 (games), you’re going to go through stretches where this is going to happen. Obviously we’ve got to play better. We didn’t execute, we didn’t play clean baseball and they made us pay.”
New York hadn't been swept in 36 series of two or more games dating to last Aug. 9-11 at Seattle, its third-longest streak and the longest since a team-record 58 from May 15, 1987, through May 11, 1988.
The Mets stranded 30 runners in the series and batted .148 (4 for 27) with runners in scoring position against the Rays, who are a big league best 18-6 since May 20.
Starters Clay Holmes, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning combined to throw just 13 innings for the Mets. Paul Blackburn, who will replace the injured Kodai Senga in the rotation on Wednesday, allowed four runs while getting just one out in relief on Friday.
Megill and Griffin Canning gave up six runs apiece this weekend as the Mets division lead was cut to 2 1/2 games over Philadelphia.
Atlanta shuffled its rotation to line up Spencer Schwellenbach, defending Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale and Spencer Strider in the series against the Mets that starts Tuesday. Ronald Acuña Jr. is hitting .390 with seven homers and 14 RBIs in his first 21 games since returning from a torn ACL.
“When you look at that team, on paper, that’s a really good team,” Mendoza said. “Obviously they’ve had some struggles. The three guys that we’re facing, they’re elite pitchers. And then you look at their lineup, they’re healthy. We’ve got to get ready. The next 10 days, we’ve got to play well.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
New York Mets' Juan Soto runs to the dugout after a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Sunday, June 15, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets' Pete Alonso reacts after Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe threw the ball to first baseman Jonathan Aranda to put him out during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 15, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Congregants and leaders vowed to rebuild a historic Mississippi synagogue that was heavily damaged by fire after an individual was taken into custody for what authorities said Sunday was an act of arson.
The fire ripped through the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, authorities said. No congregants were injured in the blaze.
Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed that a person was taken into custody following an investigation that also included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship,” Horhn said in a statement.
He did not provide the name of the suspect or the charges that the person is facing. A spokesperson for the Jackson FBI said they are "working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”
The synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which also houses its office in the building.
“That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life,” said CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson in a Facebook post.
"This wasn’t random vandalism — it was a deliberate, targeted attack on the Jewish community,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.
“That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone,” Greenblatt said.
The congregation is still assessing the damage and received outreach from other houses of worship, said Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and past president of the congregation. The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, likely inside of one of the local churches that reached out.
“We are devastated but ready to rebuild, and we are so appreciative of the outreach from the community,” said Schipper.
One Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass not damaged in the fire, Schipper said. Five Torahs inside the sanctuary are being assessed for smoke damage. Two Torahs inside the library, where the most severe damage was done, were destroyed, according to a synagogue representative.
The floors, walls and ceiling of the sanctuary were covered in soot, and the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.
“A lot of times we hear things happening throughout the country in other parts, and we feel like this wouldn’t happen in our part," said chief fire investigator Charles Felton “A lot of people are in disbelief that this would happen here in Jackson, Mississippi.”
FILE - This Nov. 2, 2018 photo shows an armed Hinds County Sheriff's deputy outside of the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, file)
