NEW YORK (AP) — Jonah Tong walked in from the bullpen to a loud ovation and took the mound to another boisterous reaction from the sellout crowd.
Tong threw six pitches in three minutes and then sat for about 25 minutes. The 22-year-old Canadian threw 20 more in the second inning and his break lasted slightly longer.
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New York Mets' Jonah Tong (21) walks out of the dugout before a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets' Jonah Tong, left, is doused with water after defeating the Miami Marlins during a baseball game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong reacts after striking out Miami Marlins' Liam Hicks during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
In his anticipated debut, Tong completed his first five innings as a major leaguer on a Friday night when the Mets set a team record for runs in a home game and earned another start in New York’s six-man rotation in the midst of a playoff race.
“Insane, that’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of as a kid growing up,” Tong said. ”
The Mets hit two of their six homers in a five-run first inning, added another in a 28-minute seven-run second when they sent 11 to the plate en route to a 19-9 victory over the Marlins.
“He was very good,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It was kind of a like a weird game.”
Tong got three outs in the air in the first, then Juan Soto hit a two-run homer and Brandon Nimmo belted a three-run drive in the bottom of the inning.
“I’m never going to complain about run support and that was insane but I just made pitches on my part,” Tong said.
With the sellout crowd of 42,112 fans seemingly willing him to the finish, he got a called third strike on Liam Hicks with a 95 mph fastball.
“I couldn’t really feel my feet, but everything I ever dreamed of,” Tong said.
Tong got six strikeouts with a drastic over-the-top delivery. He threw 97 pitches and showcased 59 fastballs that averaged 95.4 mph.
The memorable debut occurred with his parents, grandfather, aunt, uncle and agent and girlfriend in the crowd along with his first professional pitching coach Garrett Baker.
Tong was 8-5 with a 1.59 ERA and 162 strikeouts against 44 walks in 20 starts spanning 102 innings at Double-A Binghamton. He was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 11 and was 2-0 with 17 strikeouts and three walks in 11 2/3 scoreless innings.
New York Mets' Jonah Tong (21) walks out of the dugout before a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets' Jonah Tong, left, is doused with water after defeating the Miami Marlins during a baseball game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong reacts after striking out Miami Marlins' Liam Hicks during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
MAUMERE, Indonesia (AP) — A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, killing at least 20 people, collapsing buildings and homes as well as causing panic in a region prone to deadly quakes. Authorities said six people were injured, and two others were missing after a landslide triggered by the quake.
Authorities issued a tsunami warning and urged coastal residents to move to higher ground, but later lifted the warning when Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said monitoring showed no significant sea-level changes that would pose a threat to coastal communities.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit Indonesia's Flores region with a depth of 10 kilometers at 5:58 a.m. local time. Its epicenter was 68 km (42 miles) north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The initial quake was followed by several aftershocks.
The head of the Maumere Search and Rescue Agency, Fathur Rahman, said rescuers have recovered at least 20 bodies in the three devastated regencies of Sikka, West Manggarai, and East Manggarai, including eight bodies that were pulled from a landslide in the village of Reok in Manggarai. Six people were rushed to nearby hospitals with severe injuries.
He said rescuers were still searching for two villagers believed to be buried under tons of mud that tumbled down from the surrounding hills in a landslide triggered by the quake.
East Nusa Tenggara Police Chief Rudi Darmoko said the earthquake caused severe damage and collapsed buildings. He said power outages in cities and villages have hampered the flow of information and complicated search and rescue efforts.
“We are continuing to collect reports of damage and casualties, but there are communication disruptions,” Darmoko said. He said that landslides in Ende regency triggered by the earthquake also cut off the Trans-Flores highway, a roughly 700-kilometer (435-mile) paved mountain road spanning Flores Island, from Labuan Bajo to Larantuka.
Footage on local television showed patients at several hospitals being evacuated from buildings as a precaution following the quake. Hospital staff moved equipment outdoors, including beds, IV stands and oxygen cylinders, and set up temporary treatment areas to adapt to emergency conditions.
The National Disaster Management Agency deployed a helicopter to assist with logistics and support emergency response operations, including possible evacuations if needed, the agency said in a statement.
The air support is considered crucial given East Nusa Tenggara’s geography, which consists of numerous islands and presents significant transportation and access challenges.
It said about 2,000 villagers in Nagekeo regency fled their homes to temporary shelters.
The quake was felt across much of Flores island with initial reports indicating heavy damage.
Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka regency, said a number of buildings were damaged by the strong shaking and panicked people ran to higher ground.
“Many buildings here were damaged ... I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” she said.
Students at St. Peter Major Seminary in Sikka who were attending morning Mass fled in panic when the roof of an assembly hall collapsed, said the Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga, rector of the seminary, which is known locally as Ritapiret Seminary on the predominantly Catholic island of Flores.
“Our students and nuns ran out in panic beneath a collapsing roof,” Tanga said. “At least one priest suffered a broken leg after jumping from the second floor of a building during the quake.”
The quake also reportedly caused panic in Labuan Bajo, a gateway town to eastern Indonesia’s Komodo National Park, one of the country’s best-known attractions. Damage was also reported in Bima, a city in neighboring West Nusa Tenggara province, and in some parts of southern Sulawesi island.
Indonesian authorities initially issued a tsunami warning for parts of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi provinces, and urged residents to stay away from beaches and riverbanks. The agency located the shallow undersea quake near Flores island.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.
A powerful earthquake caused a tsunami in 1992 that killed about 2,500 people on Flores, part of a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia.
In 2018, a magnitude 7.5 quake spawned a large localized tsunami that wiped out coastal areas, while liquefaction caused by the shaking turned entire neighborhoods into rivers of sludge in the eastern Indonesian city of Palu, on the Palu-Koro Fault. The disaster killed more than 4,400 people.
In 2010, a 10-foot (three-meter) wave struck the Mentawai Islands, off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, just minutes after a massive offshore earthquake. More than 400 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed.
In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in western Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
People evacuate to higher ground following an earthquake in East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Muhammad Nur)
People examine the damage to a house following an earthquake in East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kurniawan)
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers attempt to clear debris at building damaged by an earthquake in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (BASARNAS via AP)
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers inspect a damaged building following an earthquake in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (BASARNAS via AP)
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescuers search for victims at a damaged building following an earthquake in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (BASARNAS via AP)
A building is seen damaged following an earthquake in East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kurniawan)
A man examines the damage to a building following an earthquake in East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kurniawan)
