TLDR: New York had no business making Tropicana Field look this easy, but a three-run first and a bases-clearing double blew this one open before Tampa Bay could find its footing.
+Deep, well-built roster that's held up all season
−Lost their last game overall before this one
−Missing three relievers (Sulser, Uceta, Heasley) to injury
Griffin Jax was activated off the injured list to take the ball for Tampa Bay, an arm the Rays needed back in the rotation as they try to hold serve atop the AL East. Justin Hagenman got the opposite assignment for the Mets — his first big-league look since a fractured rib wiped out most of his summer, working opposite a contender with almost nothing to lose on paper.
Justin Hagenman
(0-0)·4.50 ERA
2026 · No starts yet
ND
—IP
—ER
—K
—BB
—P
09/02 Lineup
Griffin Jax
(7-10)·3.80 ERA
Aug 2 vs White Sox
L
5.0IP
1ER
8K
0BB
82P
09/02 Lineup
Both arms were working off recent rust, and it showed immediately. Hagenman settled in for 3 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts to open his return, while Jax couldn't find outs — New York got to him for 3 in the first and 3 more in the third before he was pulled without finishing the third inning. That kind of split from two starters both coming off the injured list is exactly the sort of thing a pregame number struggles to fully account for.
From there it was mostly a formality. Jared Young drove in the Mets' first run of the night, Brett Baty cleared the bases with a double off the wall in left, and New York tacked on 3 more in the 7th before Juan Soto put a bow on it with a solo homer in the 8th.
The headline moment belonged to someone who'd never played in a big league game before Wednesday. Nick Morabito, up as one of the Mets' first September call-ups, delivered a 2-run double in his first career at-bat — a small moment in a lost season, but the kind of thing that's still worth watching a sub-.500 club for.
Neither team is fully healthy right now. Tampa Bay is still missing Jake Fraley and Gavin Lux for the year, plus a trio of relievers in Cole Sulser, Edwin Uceta and Jonathan Heasley, while New York is working around long-term absences for closer Devin Williams, Jorge Polanco and rotation piece Tylor Megill. For a Rays team trying to protect a division lead into October, replenishing that bullpen matters more than any single September loss.
Mets 10, Rays 4: Final Score & Odds Recap — Mets Rout Rays 10-4 As Rookie Morabito Debuts In Style
