The New York Mets edged out the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Wednesday in a game that had just about everything: late-inning drama, a walk-off hit, and a bit of baseball controversy.
Starling Marte delivered the final blow with a sharp single in the bottom of the 10th, but the real intrigue came moments earlier in the top half of the inning—when the game took an odd turn straight out of a baseball rulebook footnote.
Balk or Break? Diaz’s Disengagement Drama
With the Phillies enjoying a 3-2 lead and with a runner on first, Mets closer Edwin Diaz was toeing the rubber against JT Realmuto. Diaz disengaged from the rubber for the third time—normally an automatic balk under MLB’s pace-of-play rules.
The umpires initially treated it as such, awarding second base to Nick Castellanos. But just as quickly, the situation shifted.
After stepping off, Diaz signaled for the trainer and pointed toward his left hip. Moments later, he exited the game. The umpires huddled, reconsidered, and ruled that the third disengagement was injury-related—not strategic—so Castellanos was sent back to first.
It was an unusual moment, like seeing a chess player call “check” only to realize their knight was limping off the board.
Thomson’s Suspicion
Phillies manager Rob Thomson wasn’t buying it. He argued the reversal with some visible frustration, but the call stood. The Mets turned to reliever Max Kranick, who promptly walked Realmuto—rendering the earlier decision moot as Castellanos trotted to second anyway.
But the Phillies couldn’t capitalize. Their rally fizzled, and Marte’s walk-off hit sealed both the game and the sweep.
After the game, Thomson threw a little side-eye at the whole situation.
“That’s a play that I’ll have to remember to tell our pitchers,” he said. “Step off a third time. Call the trainer. He’ll take you out. We’ll put somebody else in.”
His words carried the weight of sarcasm, suggesting the Mets may have gamed the system, intentionally or not.
Diaz Explains His Exit
For his part, Diaz insisted the pain was real. “On the fastball I threw to Realmuto, I felt like my hip got locked up,” he explained. “I started walking and tried to loosen it up, but when I stepped on the mound, I couldn’t lift my leg to come set.”
That discomfort led to the repeated step-offs, as Diaz tried to shake off what seemed to be a sudden hip issue. Whether coincidence or clever gamesmanship, it added a strange wrinkle to a tightly contested game.
Mets Extend Their Lead
The win wrapped up a sweep and extended the Mets’ lead in the NL East to five games. It was a night of tense baseball, a questionable call, and a timely hit—just another chapter in the sport’s never-ending book of weird.