Hill makes incredible grab as Wheeler pitches Phillies to 2-1 win after Mets fire manager

NEW YORK (AP) — Derek Hill robbed Juan Soto of a two-run homer with a spectacular catch that helped Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the reeling New York Mets 2-1 on Friday night.

Trea Turner drove in Hill with a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning, and Philadelphia spoiled Andy Green’s debut as Mets interim manager by handing New York its seventh consecutive defeat.

Green replaced Carlos Mendoza, who was fired Friday morning after the high-priced Mets reached the season’s midpoint at 34-47 and 9 1/2 games back of the NL’s last wild-card berth.

Mendoza, who went 206-199 in 2 1/2 seasons, became the third major league manager to lose his job since the season started. Boston’s Alex Cora was replaced by Chad Tracy and Philadelphia’s Rob Thomson by Don Mattingly, both in late April.

The Phillies have gone 37-17 under Mattingly to move into the top NL wild-card spot.

Bryce Harper also had an RBI single for Philadelphia, which has won four straight and six of seven. Turner’s two-out hit off reliever Huascar Brazobán (4-2) made it 2-1 in the seventh, six innings after Hill — racing at full speed — leaped at the right-center wall and snared Soto’s drive high above the fence.

Wheeler grinned before Hill exchanged high-fives and chest bumps with right fielder Brandon Marsh. The crowd of 39,077 at Citi Field gasped and even applauded some when the replay was shown on the large videoboard in center.

Wheeler (8-1) allowed four hits over seven innings against his former team, including Jared Young’s run-scoring single in the fourth. He struck out five. The right-hander has a 2.03 ERA in 12 starts this year since returning from thoracic outlet decompression surgery late last season, which followed a procedure to remove a blood clot from his upper right arm.

Jhoan Duran earned his 20th save with a one-hit ninth to close out a game that took just 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Mets left-hander Zach Thornton gave up one run and five hits over six encouraging innings in his second major league start. He struck out seven and walked one.

Phillies RHP Alan Rangel (0-0, 2.25 ERA) starts Saturday against Mets RHP Christian Scott (2-0, 3.10), who is scheduled to come off the injured list.

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

New York Mets' Zach Thornton (49) pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies Friday, June 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia Phillies' Zack Wheeler pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, June 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' A.J. Ewing attempts to catch a ball hit by Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto for a double during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper runs to first base for an RBI single during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, June 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia Phillies' Zack Wheeler pitches dsecond inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Friday, June 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Norway striker Erling Haaland and nine of the team's other regular starters needed rest more than a first-place finish in their World Cup group.

“It’s a no-brainer," coach Ståle Solbakken said Friday after a 4-1 loss to France left the Norwegians in second place in the group. "The fans around Norway and also in the arena would have liked to see Erling. But that is not really the issue. We want to proceed as long as we can in the tournament.”

Already in the knockout round but with a chance to win the group with a victory over France on Friday, Solbakken decided to rest 10 of the players who started the previous game. France, which won the World Cup in 2018 and lost in the final four years ago, took a 3-1 lead on Ousmane Dembélé's first-half hat trick, and earned a round of 32 matchup with a third-place team.

“I would lie if I said that I wasn’t a little bit surprised, for sure,” France defender Jules Koundé said. “No matter which player we have in front of us, we are always trying to do our best and win. We wanted to finish first on the table and that’s what we did, so pretty happy about it.”

Norway would have needed to beat France to win the group because they trailed on goal difference heading into the match. Instead, Norway will next face the Ivory Coast, also second-place finisher, on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.

Solbakken said the team's short break after Monday's victory over Senegal convinced him it was more important to rest his regulars than go for the victory. Among the changes, Egil Selvik was in goal in place of Orjan Nyland against France's regular lineup.

“I think it’s smart,” midfielder Patrick Berg said. “It’s hopefully for us a long tournament. So being able to rest somebody and at the same time give somebody — who has been here for some weeks now, training really hard — give them the opportunity to perform against one of the best teams, I think it was a win-win situation for us.”

Haaland, a Manchester City forward who has been the Premier League's leading scorer three of the last four seasons, entered the day with four World Cup goals, tied for second with Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior and France’s Kylian Mbappé, and trailing only Argentina's Lionel Messi.

But Norwegian fans who spent thousands to travel to the United States and even more for their match tickets were deprived of seeing one of the World Cup's star attractions.

“I feel this consideration,” Solbakken said. “But we have given them a couple of victories, and we are giving them an opportunity to watch more games ... We are here to proceed as long as we can. And I need to make decisions to proceed as long as possible.”

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Norway's Erling Haaland (9), foreground, and his teammates sing the national anthem before the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

France's Kylian Mbappe and Norway's Erling Haaland, left, greet each other before the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Norway's Erling Haaland and Martin Oedegaard, right, take their seats on the bench before during the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Norway's Erling Haaland applauds at the end of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Norway's Erling Haaland and France's Desire Doue, left, shake hands at the end of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Norway's Erling Haaland exercises with his team during a training session in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, ahead of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Norway's Erling Haaland exercises with his team during a training session in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, ahead of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Norway and France, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)