Playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, overall, is probably not as fun as playing for the New York Mets. The former is fighting to stay above .500 while the ladder has World Series aspirations. So, in the long run, Ryan Helsley will likley be thrilled with the move that sent him from St. Louis to New York.
But on Monday, Helsley learned firsthand about the one clear downside in no longer being a Cardinal... he no longer has potentially the best defnsive third baseman in Nolan Arenado backing him up. Helsley came in to pitch the 10th inning of the Mets game against the Cleveland Guardians, and after IBB'ing José Ramírez to potentially set up a double play, Helsey got a bunt groundball... which was promptly thrown into centerfield by third baseman Brett Baty, who was in the game after pinch-hitting for Starling Marte, who was in the game after pinch-hitting for Ronny Mauricio.
Brett Baty throws the ball away in extras and the Guardians retake the lead! The Mets had come back from down 5-0 to tie it pic.twitter.com/fvHa49cWrM
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 5, 2025
Ryan Helsley took the loss despite doing his job for Mets
Helsley gave up two runs in this game, and neither was his fault (and neither was earned). He got two groundballs, a flyout and popout from the Guardians, and probably would have escaped without even letting the ghost runner score from second.
Instead, the defensive miscue causes him to take a loss. Ouch.
Mets come all the way back only to lose heartbreaker
Once down 5-0, the Mets stormed all the way back to tie the game 5-5. Pete Alonso, who was 4-4 at that point, was up with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth with the game tied at 5. He struck out, and then Brandon Nimmo lined out to send the game into extras.
Honestly, games like this are way worse than just losing 5-0. There's no shame in getting blown out every once in a while! It's frustrating, but not as heartbreaking as... whatever that just was.