Ryan Helsley picked up three strikeouts in his Mets debut, proving the firepower the front office added at the deadline, even in a 4-3 loss on Friday.
NEW YORK — Citi Field dropped into darkness, then the lights flashed and a new weapon emerged.
The bell tolled as AC/DC's "Hells Bells" brought the Mets faithful to its feet. The anticipation matched the trumpets of Edwin Diaz's "Narco."
In his Mets debut, Ryan Helsley trotted out in the ninth inning of a tie game and proved just how dangerous of a duo he could form with the Mets closer.
"I wasn't expecting the lights to turn down like that. That was sick," Helsley told NorthJersey.com. "The crowd was electric and coming into a tie game right there and giving the team a chance to win it there in the bottom of the ninth, it was a lot of fun. It was memorable, that's for sure."
While there were a pair of base-hits by Patrick Bailey and Rafael Devers, the newest fireballing Mets reliever electrified the New York crowd with all three of his outs on swinging strikeouts — one on his fastball and two on his slider.
The Giants would plate the ghost runner with Dominic Smith's RBI single off Edwin Diaz in the top of the 10th inning and the Mets stranded the bases loaded in the bottom half of the frame in a 4-3 loss to the Giants in front of 42,777 fans on Friday night at Citi Field.
But for a brief moment, Helsley's dynamic arm had the Mets dreaming of what a 1-2 punch of decorated closers could mean in October. And it was the first indication of the type of dominance that is going to earn Helsley a lot of fans in Flushing.
"When you think of Ryan Helsley, you think of someone who just throws fuel," Pete Alonso said. "Obviously, the guy throws really, really hard like that, triple-digits, he's going to have the ability to get punchouts in big spots.
"Obviously, look at him now, he's going to help out in the regular season, but I think David (Stearns) with every single addition saw these guys not just helping us out across the finish line in the regular season but how they can contribute in a positive way during October, during the playoffs. Talent jumps off the page."
Ryan Helsley, other Mets trade acquisitions emerge in New York
Helsley announced his presence immediately with a thunderous ninth inning.
The 31-year-old righty, who was acquired from the Cardinals on Wednesday, said it felt like his debut. The adrenaline kicked in, with Helsley dialing up three fastballs over 101 mph and a slider that touched 91.2 mph.
Despite recording a MLB-best 49 saves last season and another 21 thus far in 2025, Helsley said he is comfortable being one of the guys that gets the ball to Diaz.
"You look at our whole bullpen, top to bottom, we're pretty deep right now," Helsley said. "A lot of guys down there got a lot of experience and have been around the league for a long time and good stuff.
"With Sugar back there, he's obviously one of the best for the last six, seven years in the league, and just to go out there and try to keep it tied for him to have a chance to come and close the game, it's going to be a lot of fun."
Tyler Rogers, who was traded from the Giants on Wednesday, was up warming up in the bullpen late Friday but did not get in the game. Cedric Mullins, who moved north from the Orioles, entered as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning and popped out to third base.
All three of those newcomers are in new destinations for the first times in their career, but realize they're now in New York for one common goal.
"Bringing a ring back to the city, I think that's what it's all about you know," Mullins said before the game. "We go out there and we have fun, but we want championships and this is a great opportunity to do so."
Mets offense briefly comes to life
The Mets shook off the offensive malaise that had begun on Tuesday afternoon against a pair of familiar faces.
With the Mets trailing 3-1 in the eighth, Juan Soto shot an RBI single up the middle that careened off the toe of Joey Lucchesi on the mound. Then, with a pair of runners in scoring position, Alonso rapped a game-tying sacrifice fly to center field off recent Mets departure Jose Butto, who was among the Mets trio dealt for Rogers.
Robbie Ray had shut down the Mets for the opening six innings as the Mets' scoreless streak stretched to 21 innings dating back to the second game of their series in San Diego.
In those six innings, the Mets only collected two hits, provided by Mark Vientos and Luis Torrens, and added two more baserunners on a walk and hit by pitch against the Giants lefty. The Mets struck out six times against him, including four from the top four in the Mets' lineup.
Alonso finally broke the Mets out of that funk with a solo home run to right-center field to lead off the seventh inning.
"Robbie Ray brought his A game today," Alonso said. "He was electric and we were able to kind of get a couple of guys on base and then they brought in their best dudes and we were able to put together some really good ABs. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into tomorrow."
It was Alonso's 23rd home run of the season and moved him to within three of matching Darryl Strawberry's 252 for the most long balls in Mets history. Jeff McNeil added the Mets' second extra-base hit of the night on a two-out double into the left-center field gap but was erased on a sharp line drive by Torrens that was gloved by Luis Matos.
The Mets offense loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th after Francisco Lindor was hit by a pitch and Alonso walked, but Ronny Mauricio struck out against the Giants closer Randy Rodriguez to end the game. Brandon Nimmo and Soto both popped out with the tying run in scoring position.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets: Ryan Helsley electric debut, Mets fall to Giants in 10 innings
Category: Baseball
