ATLANTA (AP) — Following a 7-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night that left New York with a six-game losing streak, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza pointed to starting pitching as the common problem that has cost his team sole possession of the NL East lead.
The Mets looked for answers with roster moves before the game and now must make more to bolster a depleted rotation. Blade Tidwell will be recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to make his second major league start Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at rival Philadelphia.
Click to Gallery
New York Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil throws to first base in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Mets pitcher Huascar Brazobán delivers in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Mets pitcher Clay Holmes delivers in the second inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, right, relieves pitcher Huascar Brazobán (43) in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
Right-hander Justin Hagenman, recalled Thursday from Syracuse, was expected to start Friday or serve as a bulk reliever behind an opener, but he was needed in relief against Atlanta.
Frankie Montas is expected to come off the injured list soon to make his Mets debut. But in the meantime the team will turn again to the 24-year-old Tidwell, tagged for six runs and nine hits over 3 2/3 innings of a 6-5 loss at St. Louis in his big league debut May 4.
The Mets also recalled right-handed reliever Dedniel Núñez from Syracuse on Thursday and optioned right-hander Ty Adcock to Triple-A. Right-hander Max Kranick was placed on the 15-day injured list with an elbow strain.
Hagenman pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings as the Mets' second reliever against the Braves. The encouraging effort came after starter Clay Holmes set a career high with six walks in 4 2/3 innings and Huascar Brazobán walked three as the two combined to give up seven runs.
“You walk that many, it's tough to avoid a big inning,” Holmes said.
The Mets’ plan to save Hagenman for Friday night was dashed when Holmes and Brazobán combined to log only 5 1/3 innings.
Philadelphia’s 2-1 win over Miami and New York's latest loss left the Mets and Phillies tied for first place heading into their upcoming weekend series. The Mets led by 5 1/2 games on June 12, following a six-game winning streak.
“Pretty much every team has gone through the stretch we're going through now,” left fielder Brandon Nimmo said. “It doesn't make it easier.”
Holmes said the pitching woes and longest losing streak of the season are “definitely not ideal” but added he still sees “effort and preparation” as constants.
“Keep that and eventually we'll come out of it,” Holmes said.
Asked if there was a common thread to the losing streak, Mendoza said: “The starting pitching.”
Right-hander Tylor Megill was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with a right elbow sprain and will miss at least a month. Last week, ace right-hander Kodai Senga went on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain.
“You lose a couple of guys who were consistently throwing the ball well,” Mendoza said. “You know, we’re going through a rough stretch right now with the six games, obviously. But it starts right there on the mound.”
Mendoza said Montas, who was placed on the IL with a strained right lat on March 24, also might be ready to join the rotation despite allowing eight homers and posting a 12.05 ERA in six minor league rehab outings. Montas gave up 30 hits over 18 2/3 innings in the minors.
“I mean, I’m not going to lie — he got hit,” Mendoza said. “He got hit around, you know? But look, we've seen it before where guys in spring training struggle and they get hit around. And once you put him in a big league game under the lights and you game plan and you make adjustments, and they flip the switch. He’s had success before at this level.”
Montas, 32, signed a $34 million, two-year contract with the Mets in December. He missed most of the 2023 season because of shoulder surgery. He was 3-3 with a 4.53 ERA in 11 starts for Milwaukee in 2024.
Mendoza said Kranick, who had a 3.65 ERA, returned to New York on Thursday for an MRI after having continued discomfort in his elbow on Wednesday when he played catch and then tried to throw from the mound.
Kranick, 27, was recalled from Syracuse on June 13.
Mendoza said he was encouraged by the progress of third baseman Brett Baty, who missed the first two games of the series with a groin injury.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil throws to first base in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Mets pitcher Huascar Brazobán delivers in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Mets pitcher Clay Holmes delivers in the second inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, right, relieves pitcher Huascar Brazobán (43) in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Fighting raged Saturday morning along the border of Thailand and Cambodia, even after U.S. President Donald Trump, acting as a mediator, declared that he had won agreement from both countries for a new ceasefire.
Thai officials said they did not agree to a ceasefire. Cambodia has not commented directly on Trump’s claim, but its defense ministry said Thai jets carried out airstrikes Saturday morning.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Saturday that some of Trump's remarks didn't “reflect an accurate understanding of the situation.”
He said Trump’s characterization of a land mine explosion that wounded Thai soldiers as a “roadside accident” was inaccurate, and did not reflect Thailand's position that it was a deliberate act of aggression.
Sihasak said that Trump’s willingness to credit what may be “information from sources that deliberately distorted the facts” instead of believing Thailand hurt the feelings of the Thai people “because we consider ourselves — we are proud, in fact — to be the oldest treaty ally of the United States in the region.”
The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish on Dec. 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July over longstanding territorial disputes.
The July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
More than two dozen people on both sides of the border have officially been reported killed in this past week’s fighting, while more than half a million have been displaced.
The Thai military acknowledged 15 of its troops died during the fighting, and estimated earlier this week that there have been 165 fatalities among Cambodian soldiers. Cambodia has not announced military casualties, but has said at least 11 civilians have been killed and more than six dozen wounded.
Trump, after speaking to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, announced on Friday an agreement to restart the ceasefire.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
Trump’s claim came after midnight in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Anutin had, after his call with Trump, said he had explained Thailand’s reasons for fighting and said peace would depend on Cambodia ceasing its attacks first.
The Thai foreign ministry later explicitly disputed Trump’s claim that a ceasefire had been reached. Anutin's busy day on Friday included dissolving Parliament, so new elections could be held early next year.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, in comments posted early Saturday morning, also made no mention of a ceasefire.
Hun Manet said he held phone conversations on Friday night with Trump, and a night earlier with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and thanked both “for their continuous efforts to achieve a long-lasting peace between Cambodia and Thailand.”
“Cambodia is ready to cooperate in any way that is needed," Hun Manet wrote.
Anwar later posted on social media that he was urging the two sides to implement a ceasefire on Saturday night. Cambodia's prime minister, also posting online, endorsed the initiative, which included having Malaysia and the United States help monitor it. However, Thai Prime Minister Anutin denied that his country was even in negotiations over the proposal.
Thailand has been carrying out airstrikes on what it says are strictly military targets, while Cambodia has been firing thousands of medium-range BM-21 rockets that have caused havoc but relatively few casualties.
BM-21 rocket launchers can fire up to 40 rockets at a time with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles). These rockets cannot be precisely targeted and have landed largely in areas from where most people have already been evacuated.
However, the Thai army announced Saturday that BM-21 rockets had hit a civilian area in Sisaket province, seriously injuring two civilians who had heard warning sirens and had been running toward a bunker for safety.
Thailand's navy was also reported by both sides' militaries to have joined the fighting on Saturday morning, with a warship in the Gulf of Thailand shelling Cambodia's southwestern province of Koh Kong. Each side said the other opened fire first.
——
Peck reported from Bangkok. Sopheng Cheang in Serei Saophoan, Cambodia, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
A man sits in a tent as he takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
An evacuee cooks soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
An evacuee tastes soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Evacuees cook food as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Children raise their hands while receiving donation from charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Evacuees wait to receive donation from local charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Village security volunteers and resident run into shelter while the blasts sounded too close in Buriram province, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, following renewed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
