Mickey Togs

Pete Alonso has been at his best when it matters the most, raising his play when the moment calls for it.

After the Mets dropped three of four to the Braves this week, the division matchup against the rising Phillies that began Friday night certainly mattered, and so the first baseman responded.

Alonso passed the 100 RBI mark and crushed his 30th home run of the season to jump-start the Mets in a 7-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park.

The Mets bounced back nicely after those four games in Atlanta, in which they lost a series to an NL East opponent for the first time this year. With a 77-43 record, they remained 3 games up on the Braves, who beat the Astros on Friday.

“He wants to be everything for us every night,” manager Buck Showalter said of Alonso, who went 2-for-5 and finished the night tied with Aaron Judge for the major league lead with 102 RBIs. “He takes pride in his defense, in his driving in runs.” 

On another lifeless night for their offense, the Yankees were blanked by the Blue Jays in a 4-0 loss at the Stadium.

The Yankees (73-47) lost for the 14th time in their last 18 games and fell to 12-24 since July 8. Their lead atop the AL East that day was a season-high 15 ½ games, but after Friday night, the Blue Jays (64-54) have cut it to eight games — the smallest it has been since June 13.

Over their last 10 games, the Yankees have scored just 19 runs — eight of which came in their wild comeback win Wednesday. That game seems little more than a blip on the radar for a team that has otherwise struggled mightily at the plate.

Not even Aaron Judge could put the Yankees on his back. The AL MVP favorite went 0-for-2 with a walk and is now 2-for-23 over his last seven games in a rare off week, though he is far from the only Yankee in that group.

LeMahieu is on a 4-for-28 skid. Anthony Rizzo is 6-for-38. Josh Donaldson is 6-for-37. Andrew Benintendi is 7-for-35. Gleyber Torres is 6-for-40. Isiah Kiner-Falefa is 5-for-33.

The National Football League announced its own new subscription service, called NFL+  

The subscription service, which will cost $4.99 monthly or $39.99 annually, will offer out-of-market preseason games, live local and primetime regular season games and postseason games, as well as NFL Network and NFL Films content on-demand on streamable platforms,

“Today marks an important day in the history of the National Football League with the launch of NFL+,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a news release. 

 “The passionate and dedicated football fans are the lifeblood of the NFL, and being able to reach and interact with them across multiple platforms is incredibly important to us. We look forward to continuing to grow NFL+ and deepening our relationship with fans across all ages and demographics.”

The NFL said its new NFL+ service is the latest of its direct-to-consumer offerings, which already includes its NFL Game Pass subscription service.