Mets' series-opener vs. Brewers postponed; Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga working on returns

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Jul 1, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.

Crash Davis infamously got the Durham Bulls a rainout in the movie “Bull Durham.” The Mets got one courtesy of the ever-changing weather system around Flushing Bay.

Tuesday night’s series-opening matchup between the Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers was postponed due to thunderstorms. A split doubleheader will be played Wednesday at Citi Field, with games beginning at 1:10 p.m., and 7:10 p.m. ET. It marks the first time the two teams have met since facing off against one another in the NL wild-card series last October, with the Mets besting the team that David Stearns helped create during his eight-year tenure in Milwaukee.

And yet again, the two teams are nearly neck-and-neck in the standings. The Brewers overcame a dismal start to the season to recover and move up to second place in the division, and put themselves in contention for a wild-card spot. Currently, the Mets lead the wild-card standings in the NL at 48-37, with Milwaukee holding the second spot with a 47-37 record, only a single game off from New York.

Milwaukee has gone 8-2 over its last 10 games and is 12-2 against the Amazins’ in the last 14 regular series games. As if things couldn’t get worse for the Mets.

After being swept in Pittsburgh by one of the worst teams in baseball over the weekend, the Mets badly need to get back on a winning track. Francisco Lindor hasn’t been hitting and the pitching has been a disaster since losing three starters since June 12. However, with the team having had Monday off and now Tuesday, this postponement will undoubtedly benefit the bullpen.

In a 9-2 loss to the Pirates on Saturday, the Mets used five different relievers after right-hander Paul Blackburn was knocked around in the second inning. Sunday, the situation grew so dire that the Mets turned to outfielder Travis Jankowski to pitch. Over the last week of games, 13 different relievers (14, if you count Jankowski) have eaten innings for the Mets, with the team having been forced to make numerous transactions to keep arms fresh and absorb innings for the injured starters.

They even signed two relievers, right-hander Richard Lovelady and left-hander Colin Poche, before designating both of them for assignment within a few days. Lovelady returned on another one-year contract over the weekend, and is currently on the active roster.

The Mets were expected to start right-hander Clay Holmes, right-hander Blade Tidwell and left-hander David Peterson against the Brewers this week, lining up Blackburn, Montas and Holmes this weekend for the Subway Series. However, they decided against using Tidwell in Game 2 on Wednesday, listing the pitcher as TBD. The starter for the second game will face stud rookie righty Jacob Misiorowski, who has won the first three decisions of his big league career, allowing only two earned runs on three hits over 16 innings for a 1.13 ERA, walking seven and striking out 19.

Tidwell has not started out as hot. The right-hander doesn’t appear ready for big league action, but the Mets don’t want to disrupt the development of prospects Brandon Sproat, Nolan MacLean or Jonah Tong. Left-hander Brandon Waddell could be called up for the doubleheader to face Milwaukee’s lefties.

Freddy Peralta will pitch the first game Wednesday for Milwaukee, and left-hander Jose Quintana, who played a key role for the Mets last season, is slated to start against Thursday night.

The Mets may be getting a big arm next week for a six-game road trip through Baltimore and Kansas City. Left-hander Sean Manaea will make what the Mets hope is his final rehab start Tuesday night with Double-A Binghamton. It’s been a long road to recovery from a spring training oblique injury with two setbacks, but the Mets aren’t yet ready to say he’ll be back in the rotation immediately. The club is being cautious after loose bodies were found in his elbow last week.

The plan is for Manaea to throw 50-55 pitches with the Rumble Ponies.

Right-hander Kodai Senga (hamstring strain) was seen running on the field Tuesday afternoon. The Mets’ ace faced hitters Sunday, getting up and down, and will throw a bullpen later this week and take PFP. He’s symptom-free, and should he come out of his bullpen and PFP without any pain in his right leg, he’ll be able to start a rehab assignment as soon as next week.

Another day off can’t hurt the Mets, but a bad series against Milwaukee sure can. The All-Star break is coming up and the Mets have two of their best pitchers set to return soon, but if they don’t stop this spiral, they could be in big trouble in a tight NL race.

Paid tickets for Tuesday’s game will be valid for the first game of the doubleheader Wednesday. Fans who purchased tickets for Tuesday but did not attend the makeup game can exchange a digital ticket voucher for a ticket comparable in price and location to another Mets regular-season home game at Citi Field this season (blackout restrictions apply).