Phillies surge past Mets with six-run seventh inning, claim first place in NL East

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryson Stott hit a bases-clearing triple in a six-run seventh inning and the Philadelphia Phillies surged past the slumping New York Mets into first place in the NL East with a 10-2 victory on Friday night.

Nick Castellanos homered for the Phillies, who opened the three-game set between division rivals with their eighth win in their last nine games.

Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil homered for New York, which has lost seven straight.

Reliever Reed Garrett (2-3) started the seventh for the Mets but failed to retire any of the five batters he faced after opening the frame by giving up doubles to Brandon Marsh and Trea Turner.

Alec Bohm’s RBI single put Philadelphia in front 4-2, ending Garrett's night. Justin Garza then surrendered an RBI single to Castellanos before Stott’s drive off the wall in left-center.

After Phillies starter Zack Wheeler could only get through five scoreless innings, New York took advantage against Taijuan Walker. Alonso opened the sixth by hitting a 90-mph cutter into the batter’s eye in center for his 18th of the season. McNeil tied it with a drive to right.

After Walker got an out and allowed a single, Tanner Banks (2-0) came in and blanked the Mets over 1 2/3 strong innings.

J.T. Realmuto followed Castellanos closely home on Stott’s hit, sliding safely to the plate at nearly the same time.

4 — Number of strong defensive plays by Phillies first baseman Otto Kemp. Filling in for injured slugger Bryce Harper, Kemp made good plays in the fifth and sixth to catch foul balls off the bat of Tyrone Taylor. In the seventh, snared Turner’s long throw from second to put out Brandon Nimmo before ending the inning with a diving stop of Juan Soto’s hard liner before flipping to Banks.

Mets RHP Griffin Canning (6-3, 3.80 ERA) opposes Philadelphia RHP Mick Abel (2-0, 2.21) on Saturday night.

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

New York Mets outfielder Tyrone Taylor fields a single from Philadelphia Phillies' Nick Castellanos in the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 20, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto celebrates his run on an RBI single by Brandon Marsh in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Friday, June 20, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

New York Mets' Jeff McNeil runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, June 20, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

Philadelphia Phillies Nick Castellanos follows through on a solo home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Friday, June 20, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

Philadelphia Phillies Nick Castellanos, left, and J.T. Realmuto, right, score on an RBI single by Bryson Stott in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Friday, June 20, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)