Making his highly anticipated MLB debut on Friday night at Citi Field, Mets prospect Jonah Tong made quick work of the Marlins for a 1-2-3 first inning.
The 22-year-old needed just six pitches to get through his first big league inning, getting a lineout, flyout, and pop out.
Tong let up a leadoff double in the second inning before settling in to retire the next three Marlins. The righty also got massive help from the offense, which scored five runs in the first inning and seven in the second inning to go up 12-0.
He recorded his first strikeout in the third inning, sending Joey Wiemer down swinging for the first out. Tong found himself in a jam with runners on second and third after a wild pitch, but got a strikeout and groundout to avoid any damage. He kept it going with another 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, including two strikeouts.
Tong showed his resilience in the fifth inning, battling through two fielders' choices and two errors that allowed three unearned runs to cross the plate. He struck out Liam Hicks to end the inning and expressed some emotion after the big out, needing 28 pitches and a mound visit to complete the frame.
Overall, Tong allowed one earned run on six hits with six strikeouts and no walks over 97 pitches (63 strikes) and 5.0 IP.
Check out his impressive first inning and the rest of his promising outing here:
A 1-2-3, six-pitch opening inning for Jonah Tong in his MLB debut! pic.twitter.com/N23TB3OGAg
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 29, 2025
All of Jonah Tong's strikeouts from his big-league debut tonight ♨️ pic.twitter.com/grPhDiLByG
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 30, 2025
A scoreless first inning for Jonah Tong! pic.twitter.com/8jLc3VDMHs
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 29, 2025
Jonah Tong warms up to Nickelback's "Burn It to the Ground" 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/f0oOWCkdFe
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 29, 2025