PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Francisco Alvarez homered twice, Brett Baty also went deep and the New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 on Thursday night in the first major league game following the All-Star break.
The start time was pushed up an hour and the teams played under a hazy sky with diminishing air quality because of smoke that moved into the region from wildfires burning in Canada and Minnesota.
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New York Mets right fielder Carson Benge leaps as the ball hit by Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber hits the rail and stays in play during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
New York Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Philadelphia Phillies' Aaron Nola looks on after being pulled during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
The Sun has an orange cast from smoke coming down from the Canadian wildfires as it sets near the Philadelphia Phillies scoreboard during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
New York Mets' Francisco Alvarez hits a solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Christian Scott (3-1) pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings for the Mets, who launched three solo homers off starter Aaron Nola.
New York slugger Juan Soto was removed in the eighth because of left calf soreness, but interim manager Andy Green said the All-Star outfielder is expected back in the lineup this weekend. Soto missed about 2 1/2 weeks in April with a right calf strain.
Alvarez drove a 1-2 slider over the center-field fence in the third. The catcher added his 11th homer of the season in the seventh, when he went back-to-back with Baty.
A.J. Ewing added an insurance run for the Mets with an RBI double in the ninth. Devin Williams got three quick outs for his 100th career save and 14th this season.
Scott allowed three hits and struck out seven, posting consecutive scoreless starts for the first time in his big league career. He nearly gave up a tying homer to the final batter he faced, but Kyle Schwarber’s long fly hit the railing atop the right-field wall and ricocheted back into play for a double.
Nola (3-7) gave up just one run and three hits through six innings, but Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly sent the right-hander back out for the seventh even though he had thrown 90 pitches and a reliever was ready in the bullpen. That’s when Nola served up back-to-back homers to Baty and Alvarez.
Trea Turner homered for Philadelphia in the eighth, the first home run by a right-handed hitter off Mets reliever Luke Weaver this season.
Weaver had gone 25 straight appearances without allowing an earned run. The streak dated to May 1 and was tied for the second-longest in team history.
Before the game, the Mets reinstated second baseman Marcus Semien from the injured list and designated infielder Zack Short for assignment. Semien didn't play. He had been on the IL since June 25 with a left hip flexor strain.
After a rare Friday off, the Mets and Phillies resume their series on Saturday. LHP Sean Manaea (2-4, 4.56 ERA) is scheduled to start for New York against LHP Jesús Luzardo (8-4, 3.51).
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New York Mets right fielder Carson Benge leaps as the ball hit by Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber hits the rail and stays in play during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
New York Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Philadelphia Phillies' Aaron Nola looks on after being pulled during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
The Sun has an orange cast from smoke coming down from the Canadian wildfires as it sets near the Philadelphia Phillies scoreboard during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
New York Mets' Francisco Alvarez hits a solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran early Friday by increasingly hitting bridges, part of President Donald Trump's threats to start striking infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran launched new missile attacks against U.S.-allied nations in the Middle East and warned that its attacks would escalate.
In Qatar, authorities warned the public to take shelter as a barrage of Iranian missiles targeted the nation. People heard explosions overhead as air defenses fired to intercept the missiles.
Qatar is a key mediator with Pakistan in trying to reach an end to the Iran war. But talks have broken down over Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran earlier targeted Bahrain and Kuwait over U.S. airstrikes hitting bridges in the Islamic Republic overnight.
The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, and the region has endured days of back-and-forth attacks by the U.S. and Iran as they battle for control of the strait. Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300 others, with new casualties reported in Friday's strikes.
When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic, a move that sent the price of oil soaring and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations.
Speaking in a primetime address to the American public, Trump insisted the war was going well.
"We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly," Trump said.
Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, earlier threatened that Iran could launch widespread attacks on “all the infrastructure in the region” if the U.S. acted on Trump 's repeated warnings that America could hit Iranian bridges and power plants.
“Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extraregional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz,” he added. “This is Iran’s invincible red line.”
The U.S. airstrikes hit bridges overnight into Friday in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, killing at least seven people, Iranian state television reported. The attacks hit Bandar Khamir, a city on Iran's coast on the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military's Central Command said it hit dozens of targets in its latest airstrikes, which concluded at dawn Friday, the sixth night in a row of American attacks.
Iranian state media said the U.S. strikes Thursday hit around Tehran and Semnan province, home to Iran’s ballistic missile production and space program.
Trump has returned in recent days to his threats to target Iranian power stations and bridges to try to compel Iran to loosen its hold on the strait, through which about a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime. The U.S. also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt its shipments of crude oil.
Week-to-week cargo shipments through the strait dropped by almost a quarter at the beginning of the month, according to Maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. And that was before the recent surge in tit-for-tat attacks.
Given the risks, some oil shippers are transiting the strait with their location devices turned off, but many are just staying put, Lloyd’s said Thursday. A growing amount of the region’s energy is being shipped through pipelines, but not nearly enough to offset the decline in shipping through the strait.
U.S. forces have redirected three commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled one that did not comply and boarded another “to ensure full compliance,” the U.S. military's Central Command said in a post on X.
Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut, Mae Anderson in New York and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Vehicles drive by a billboard reading in English, "Who is D nexT one?" and "#lindseygraham," referring to late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and using the capital letters "D" and "T" in an apparent play on the initials of U.S. President Donald Trump, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, July 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man waves an Iranian flag beneath a billboard reading in English, "Who is D nexT one?" and "#lindseygraham," referring to late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and using the capital letters "D" and "T" in an apparent play on the initials of U.S. President Donald Trump, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, July 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump lying on what appears to be a coffin and bearing anti-Trump messages, including the phrase "We Kill Trump," is seen at Islamic Revolution Square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Three boys play in the shallow waters of the Strait of Hormuz, as a plume of smoke rises from an explosion in the background, off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
